


Just Wait, It Gets Worse

by Puck_Monger_99



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Angst, Dallas Stars, Everyone's gay, Incest, M/M, One Big Family, Practically Every NHL Team, Sid and Geno fluff, The Dallas Stars love Kari Lehtonen, Twincest, Underage - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-30
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-02-06 19:57:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1870422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puck_Monger_99/pseuds/Puck_Monger_99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life for Kari is hard. Living as an insomniac in a small house with seven other guys isn't his idea of family life, especially when he starts to realize his totally not gay attraction to one of his brothers.</p>
<p>When his senior year of high school starts, he thinks it's just another year of minor suffering for him and his brothers, until the transfer students come in. Suddenly, his baby brother is getting worked up over this frat boy in the making, and Antoine and Chiasson are getting into even more fights at school and at home, Ryan is hooking up with this quiet guy with gorgeous eyes, Alex starts a new job, and Brenden and Jordie start talking about moving. And in the middle of it, Kari finds himself playing mother hen for two baby faced blondes, Val and Kevin.</p>
<p>Welcome to the Benn-Dillon-Lehtonen-Goligoski-Garbutt-Roussel-Chiasson household, don't let the door hit you on the way out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! First post! I thought Kari Lehtonen needed some love, and there are only so many fics devoted to the Stars. Just thought I'd add my contribution.

Kari lifted his head to stare across the room at his alarm clock, silently cursing the neon blue numbers that jumped out at him. 4:30 AM, only three more hours till the sun was up, and another half hour after that before everybody else in the house was awake. He sighed, opting to stare at the ceiling for the fiftieth time since he'd "gone to bed," counting the cracks for what seemed like the hundredth. When he got bored of that, he closed his eyes and counted sheep. He got sick of looking at the back of his eyelids, and decided to check the clock again.

4:51 AM.

Kari knew the morning was going to drag on, like it did every day, so he slipped out of bed, padding across the cold wood floor to his computer. He logged on, checked his email, played games, read yesterday's news. Nothing held his interest for long. Finally, he decided to do his mostly finished calculus homework, tweak his history essay, catch up on the book he was reading in English (catching up was really finishing the long novel a month before probably everyone else).

When the sky started to lighten up, he quietly made breakfast, waiting almost anxiously for the other boys to come down. He wondered if they would say anything today, or if most of them would ignore it like usual. Jeeze, Kari, you look like shit. The normal morning greeting, a graceless smile from whoever said it, a pat on the shoulder. It was routine, and it was safe. Made him remember that his family was there for him.

Jamie was down first, big brown doe eyes awake and cheerful. He smiled at the older boy, popping some bread into the toaster, and started to talk.

"Ready for that big assembly today?" Figures, only the golden boy would be excited for that. Kari rolled his eyes a little, waiting for him to go on."Me and Sidney did some investigating. It's supposed to be some sort of diversity presentation, and rumour has it, we're getting a bunch of new transfer kids. Even a teacher, I think!" 

Kari smirked at him, wiping invisible crumbs off Jamie's face like a mother would. "You need to stay clean, darling. First impressions are everything." Jamie rolled his eyes, swatting the Finn's large hands away from him. 

Jordie and Brenden came next, the older Benn brother's arm hooked loosely around his boyfriend's waist. They milled about the kitchen, Brenden doing dishes and talking with Jamie, Jordie stuffing his face with leftover pizza from the night before. Kari looked at the man with mock-disgust, snidely telling him to shut his mouth while he ate. 

"Hey," Jordie said. "I can kick you out, dude. It's my gross habits or the road." He chuckled at the horrified look on Kari's face. "Kidding." 

Jordie was right, though. He and Brenden owned the house, and could full well toss him out if they wanted to. Not that they would, Kari was like another brother, along with Jamie and the other four teenagers living in the place, but, in theory... Kari rubbed at his eyes, the stressful thinking suddenly becoming too much. He forced a smile when Brenden asked what was wrong.

"I'm fine," Brenden gave him a look. "Really." The man rolled his eyes, turning back to the sink with a grumble. 

The morning was quiet thereafter, until Antoine ran down the stairs with both Alex's hot on his heels. Ryan was sleepily limping after them with a toothbrush sticking out the side of his mouth, egging them on with a lazy grin.

"Give it back, connard!"

"When you stop crying, Chiasson!" Chia roared angrily, throwing Antoine to the ground and sitting on him, landing a well-aimed punch to his stomach, till he called uncle. "Jesus, Chia! HERE! Take em' back!" He relinquished two cell phones with a pained expression, attempting to crawl away once Chia got off of him. 

"Where do you think you're going, froggy?" Alex Goligoski snickered, placing his foot on the Frenchman's head. "I haven't gotten my licks in." 

Antoine cursed in French, and Chiasson cursed back. They started a yelling match eventually, with a heated conversation that nobody else could understand, and Goose screamed at them to speak in a language they could all hurl insults with. Finally, with an annoyed growl, Jordie told them to shut up and sit down so they could have a nice, civilized family breakfast, thank you.

Ryan sat between Jamie and Kari, laying his head on the blonde's shoulder. He dozed contentedly, making Kari's stomach curl up in unease. Although he was glad it wasn't say, either Antoine or Chia, he still couldn't help the angry, green feeling of jealousy that flared up in him. Jamie shot him a sidelong glance, worry evident in his eyes. Kari just shook his head, focusing on the way Chia and Antoine were already back to being best friends, or the way Brenden and Jordie bickered about nothing, the way he knew that Brenden was actually just two seconds away from pulling his lover into a tight hug. He focused on the way Goose prodded Ryan, giving up with a huff when he couldn't get him to move from his favorite seat. He focused on the general atmosphere of his family.

Kari jumped when a car horn sounded out front. Jamie stood, grabbing his backpack, and waved his goodbye.

"Why does he go to school with Crosby and Malkin?" Antoine asked, stuffing a jam covered piece of toast into his mouth. "It's like he's embarrassed to be seen with us, or something." Kari rolled his eyes. Really, why he stuck around with these idiots was beyond him. Chiasson mumbled his agreement with Antoine (because, let's face it, they are idiots at the best of times and only when they work together do they function as one normal human being) and Jordie and Brenden shared a look. 

"Let's just say he enjoys more...refined company." Ryan mumbled, pulling away from Kari's shoulder so he could sit in Jamie's vacated seat. Goose happily took his place next to Kari. Brenden started to snicker at Antoine's face, which looked something like a cross between a startled deer and an angry moose, and fell out of his chair nearly dying of laughter at his reply:

"Who could be more refined than us?"

He glared at Brenden's overreaction, but otherwise sounded serious. Kari shook his head, leaving Ryan to answer, and went upstairs to grab his shoes and car keys. The chaos that ensued after his disappearance was not his fault in any way. At all.

It started with a crash, and Jordie yelling. Kari could hear Brenden and Antoine screaming, with Chia's attempts to calm his friend down. Alex padded out of the kitchen door after Kari, leaving Ryan to fend for his own. The pair escaped to the Finn's room, Alex sitting on his bed while the blonde dug around in his closet. He grabbed a pair of old, worn runners and some mismatched socks. Pulling them on without a second thought, he stood and snatched his keys off his desk.

"Let's go get em' before they all kill each other."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! These guys are a handful already! But it's endearing, right? I think Kari's going to have a hard time getting that. Family back story coming in a few chapters, if this family dynamic confuses anybody.
> 
> Kudos and comments appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kari isn't really cut out to be a mama bear, no matter what he thinks.

Twenty minutes later, Kari was clenching the steering wheel of his beat up Ford, trying to ignore the boys in the backseat. Ryan was complaining about Chia and Antoine leaning across him to talk ("Then you shouldn't have sat between them"), and at that same time the two idiots thought it was a good idea to start a slap fight with each other ("You quit, or I'll dump both of your asses on the street"), and Goose was just being his usual self, egging Chia on by telling him to punch froggy in the mouth ("You aren't helping, Alex").

By the time they reached school, Kari looked like a middle-aged mother that had too many kids. His frazzled mind made it nearly impossible to not snap at his brothers, and he was extremely relieved to make it to homeroom without incident. His teacher, Mr. Fiddler, regarded him with a raised eyebrow as he checked roll. He motioned with his eyes at the tired look of Kari's appearance as if to say, Mama bear bite off more than she could chew?

Kari wanted to say something like, "Bears only give birth to two cubs at once while I have to take care of four," or "Fuck you asshat, I'm an awesome mom." Then he remembered that there was no fucking way Mr. Fiddler even knew what his morning was like. The only reaction he gave was slamming his face on the desk with a groan.  
They day progressed on as normal, Kari spacing out through physics with Mr. Cole, who didn't seem to notice his student staring out the window with a tired gaze. He idly sketched in Mr. Gonchar's calculus class, writing anything down that sounded useful. The Russian was a pretty cool guy, but he was nosy, and was always ready to spring the question of why there were bags under Kari's eyes all the time. Kari didn't like that much, and he really hated that he found himself trying to avoid being alone with the man. He really was a cool guy. By the time he sat down in history, he was drained. Mr. Whitney only clapped him on the shoulder companionably.

Lunch rolled around soon afterwards. Kari sat at his usual table, scanning the room for his brothers. He easily spotted Chia and Antoine speaking loudly at each other, Goose and Ryan trailing behind. Although the five boys stuck together mostly, Jamie didn't really stay around. Kari found the brunette beside Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby's regular crew. The sophomore only just started to branch out in the social pyramid, and easily fit in with the loud stylings of James Neal and Pascal Dupuis, or the smart, quiet conversations with Sidney and Paul Martin. Kari knew his brothers were resentful of this, and Kari would be lying if he said he wasn't jealous. They already had a replacement Finn waiting in the wings (but Kari found Olli adorable, so it was okay).

But, he knew it wasn't just a boy trying to find his place in the world. Jamie was gay, and felt safe basking in the glow of Evgeni and Sidney, the school's outed power couple (but everybody knew that Sidney hated the term, and would rather be any normal couple, instead. Really, he complained about it so much that even the freshmen could recite his speech without making a mistake). If he had to admit it, Kari would say they were a safer place to be than anywhere else in this school. No one would get him there, he hoped. 

Alex sat across the table from him, immediately digging through his back pack and slapping down a piece of paper.

"What's this?" Kari raised an eyebrow. Alex just pointed at something on the sheet. "What?" 

"Dude, just read the fucking paper."  
It was an assignment sheet for the load of transfer students. He scrolled the list of names, finding himself paired with a girl named 'Valeri.' Jamie was with a guy named Kevin. 

"Where'd you get this?" 

"Uhh, Mr. McGuire. Sort of?" Alex stumbled, shrugging sheepishly at the look Kari gave him. "He had it posted on his door, so I just... took it." Alex chuckled, taking the paper back. "I guess only the good children get to have minions." 

Kari smirked, shaking his head. Just because Kari didn't start fires in the boys bathrooms, or slash tires in the parking lot, didn't mean he was a perfect role model. Rather, he was just 'good' at not getting caught. There's a difference. 

As they stepped out of the lunch line with their trays of what was supposed to be Asian stir-fry, a tussle in the corner of the cafeteria turned into an all out brawl between two seniors. A crowd had formed around the two guys beating the shit out of each other, loud and excited. Chia only rolled his eyes, grabbing Antoine by the sleeve of his jacket so he could drag the whining Frenchman back to their table, but Ryan and Goose stayed, licking their lips in anticipation. Kari looked over the heads of everyone in front of him.

He could see one of the kids, Henrik, screaming angrily at the other guy. Kari knew Henrik, if only barely. The guy was revered as somewhat of a ladies man, smart and witty, and very protective of his twin, Joel. That's where the fight started, he thinks. Joel was behind his brother, trying to pull him back from the other guy.  
"Fuck you, Avery! You fucking stay away from my brother! Stay the fuck away, or I'll beat the hell out of you!" 

"Ohhhh, that's what's going on," Goose murmured. "Avery's a dick." Kari couldn't agree more. Sean Avery wasn't very open minded, or relenting. Kari saw him lurking around corners all the time, terrorizing the freshmen and sophomores with the very real threat of an early morning beating. He never targeted Jamie, but Kari would be there to rip him a new one if he did. He suddenly hoped that Henrik gave Avery a black eye and a fat lip.

He and the others finally went back to eat when a teacher broke those two up. Antoine and Chia had already finished their lunch, now engrossed in a quiet conversation in French. Before Goose could sit down and start mouthing off about the fight, Ryan grabbed him by the back of the shirt. He pulled him off to the side, not even sharing a look with Kari to know that he followed. "Why...?" Alex started, clamping his mouth shut at the glare he was given.  
"It's quite fucking obvious that they're talking. I don't think they want us to know what it is, even if we can't understand them." Ryan Garbutt was many things, but ignorant he was not. Kari was happy to know him. Alex grumbled, and crossed his arms. Kari chuckled, patting the brunette on the shoulder, before leaving them alone to find Jamie.

He found him, looking shaken up like Kari had thought, eating silently while the boys at his table had steered the conversation away from whatever the quarrel was about. They eyed him warily enough, in the kind of way that made one feel awkward in their own skin. He didn't let it bother him much, and pulled Jamie away so he could speak to him quietly.

"I'm fine." Jamie blurted out. 

"I know," Kari said, not believing him, but not mean enough to point it out. "Just making sure." 

The boy wasn't used to public fights, or homophobia, if that was what the fight was even about. Joel was out of the closet, Avery was a dick, Jamie was young. Just the right mix of hormonal teenage angst that could explode into something serious. Kari just wanted Jamie to know that he was there for him, because... he was.

"I...I really am, Kari."

Kari smiled sadly, and hugged his little brother. When he let go, the young brunette blushed madly, scrabbling to get back to his lunch table without anymore familial embarrassment. 

"I know, Jamie."

"I didn't know Lundqvist was gay." Goose said, settling next to Kari with a grunt. "Big surprise, really." 

"Really? Not a big secret that Joel and... Who was it? Some guy, last year, I think. No secret they were fucking in the bathroom. That's why we were banned from pissing in the toilet for those few weeks, right?" Chia rambled (awkwardly), eyebrows knit in confusion. He looked at Goose, who rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Not that Lundqvist, idiot. I meant the other one." At that, the rest of the boys looked at him with confusion (and a little bit of condescension). "I mean, he's always standing up for Joel. They're always touching...lots of ass pats." Goose frowned. "Anything?" 

"Henrik Lundqvist is not gay," Kari laughed. "He's probably the straightest guy I know." 

"You say that now..." Goose mumbled, looking past the blonde. Kari trailed his eyes to see the younger twin tucking his face into Henrik's shoulder, and Henrik, doing what any good brother would, wrapped his arms around Joel and squeezed. Goose smirked when Kari flipped him off.

Antoine was eerily quiet throughout the conversation, eyes dull but ears perked. He wasn't sitting as close to Chia as he was fifteen minutes earlier, and only gave a grimace at the jokes the Quebecois would halfheartedly make. Goose looked tempted to bring it up, when Kari elbowed him underneath the table. He shook his head, mouthing a "don't" to get his point across. Goose clamped his mouth shut. Kari was surprised he actually listened, when the brunette started to speak loudly, blatantly ignoring Kari's warning. Every fucking time.  
"Why the long face, froggy? You and Chia get in a fight while we were gone?" He meant it as a joke, because really, why would Chia and Antoine ever fight? Antoine's eyes suddenly came into focus, narrowing with cold hatred. Kari was certain the boy would have ripped Goose's face off if it weren't for Chia putting a solid hand on his shoulder. If they wouldn't let anybody outside of the family hurt Goose, it wasn't worth it to beat him up either. (Kari wouldn't allow it, anyways.) 

"Okay! There's the bell! Go to class, boys!" Ryan sighed out, standing up and shooing all of them out of the cafeteria. Antoine latched onto Kari's side, allowing the older boy to drag him to their shared art class with a near-permanent pout. Goose ducked into his English class with a wave, while Chia trudged down to health. Ryan shook his head with a sigh, holding Kari's knowing gaze before he disappeared around a corner towards the gym. 

Kari settled an arm around Antoine's shoulders, tugging him closer to his side. Though he wasn't usually the one to show a lot of physical affection, he knew when to give it, and it was one of those times that the Frenchman would have hung off him anyways. He waited quietly for his brother to speak up, start screaming, or yelling, or... something. Antoine just stayed tense beside him. The walk was uncomfortable to those around them, and Kari felt himself snarl at more than a few assholes in the halls. At least they made it to class with a few minutes to spare. 

As they settled themselves in front of easels, drawing in their sketchbooks what the teacher had on the board, at least it was companionable. Antoine held his pencil limply, not even trying to do anything on the page. 

"What happened, Antoine?" 

He frowned at Kari. 

"Alex and I were talking. I-I told him..." Kari could hear the tremble in his voice, and hardly tried to stop himself from putting his arm back around him. "People are going to think we are gay." 

"You are," The blonde smiled sadly. "Is he, you know, cool with it?"  
"He doesn't know." Antoine mumbled bitterly. The teacher finally walked in at that moment after spending the bell period making out with the woodshop teacher in the teachers' lounge, like teachers are known to do, but it wasn't really news to this class. Antoine clamped his mouth shut, and kept quiet through the end of the period. Kari pressed his palms into his eyes, trying to fend of a wave of nausea. He was so fucking tired.

It wasn't like Chia could hate gays, he lived with like, four of them. Kari figured it was the new(ish) information that his best friend in the entire world finally came out to him as an authentically gay guy that had no interest in girls at all. Chia probably had no idea that Antoine was crushing on him this whole time, which could or cold not be true. Chia was bi, naturally into trying new things, sure. The two usually had the habit of going to parties to pick up ladies frequently, and now it finally came to light that the Frenchman was only a really, REALLY good wingman. It was earth-shattering, really.

The bell finally rang, and Kari felt like punching something, and had the really bad urge to send Antoine home under the guise of sickness. He knew that wouldn't fix anything, but at least it would give the young man some relief before he had to face Chia again. Instead, he just escorted him to French class before moving on to P.E. 

On the way, he and Ryan exchanged a long look, the younger man shrugging and walking away, as if to say "I'll ask later." Getting to the gym was no problem, but it was the onslaught of short, sweaty freshman boys that he had to fight through. Even though he had at least six inches on the tallest of them, it was still a challenge. When he got in, he didn't even pretend to go and get dressed before he barged into the coaches' shared office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Kari! We believe in you! I feel like I need to have more Goose and Kari time. 
> 
> Kudos and comments appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kari plays some dodge ball, sits through Antoine and Chia being awkward together, and finally gets to meet Valeri Nichushkin.

Just as he figured, Coach Roy was typing away at his computer, putting in the grades from the two English classes he taught. His desk space was neat and orderly, unlike the others, which were the only things about the stuffy room that looked somewhat messy. He looked up when the door opened, smiling at the boy with teeth. 

"Lehtonen, finally decide to show up to class today?" The raunchy man winked at him, motioning for him to sit. "What's a big, bad senior like you hanging around here?"

"Well Mr. Wah," He put more emphasis on the Quebecois name than he had to. "I decided you old men needed some help keeping the younger ones in check." Roy laughed for a moment, giving Kari's shoulder a friendly slap. 

"You're alright, kid." He slid a stack of papers towards him with a grading key and a pen. "Here, need any practice?" 

The two sat together for a few minutes in silence, until the P.E. class started and all of the boys filed out of the locker room. Kari could hear Coach Hextall yelling at them, his tall figure appearing in front of the long office window with flailing arms. Roy chuckled.

Hextall burst into the room, screaming over his shoulder, "If I come back and you ladies aren't sweating, I'll run you twice as hard!" 

Roy smiled at the man, making an offhand comment about the vibrant red color Hextall's face was. Kari only rolled his eyes. 

"Who is this?" Hextall asked, eyeing the boy with a smirk. "A senior? Here?" Kari laughed, standing up to let the coach have a seat. He took it happily, sighing in contentment. 

"I had nothing better to do, sir." 

"No need for the sir, makes me feel old!" 

Kari bit his tongue, making sure any comment that was threatening to escape disappeared. Unlike Coach Roy, Hextall would still make him run, even if he was only wearing jeans and a t shirt. He looked out the office window to see the freshmen running at a rather lazy pace, and nudged the nearest coach with his hand. 

"What?" Hextall gazed out at his students, making an angry noise in the back of his throat. "I told them what would happen!" He suddenly jumped out of his chair, stomping onto the gym floor with nothing less than hell's wrath burning in his eyes. Roy stood as well, with less gumption, dragging Kari out of the office so they could make sure Hextall didn't hurt any of the kids (or, more realistically, himself). 

"Alright, you little brats!" Hextall roared, grabbing everyone's attention. "Get over here!" Kari backed up slightly when yet another herd of sweaty freshmen came at him. They all looked relatively terrified, which, to be honest, so would Kari. He would hate to be on the wrong end of Hextall's wrath. 

"Lehtonen," Roy said, sending a humored smile his way. "Wanna pick the punishment for today?" Kari shivered at the word 'punishment,' but nodded anyway. He decided to go easy on the poor kids, so he picked an easy game. 

"Dodge ball."

The match was brutal, to say the least. A bunch of uncoordinated kids still going through puberty versus the tall, muscled soon-to-be jocks. It was like every scene in those heartfelt kids' movies, the ones where the nerds were picked on because the gym coaches were cruel men who enjoyed watching children suffer, and the bullies were always stereotypically popular, or in a bad way, or some other bullshit like that.

Kari felt himself flinch every time the red rubber collided with someone's face. The ball would always make this particular noise, a hollow 'thud', that just made you pity whoever got nailed with one. The coaches made idle chitchat beside him, more than once saying they wish they could've been playing, and urging the Finn to go help out "the little ones." 

Finally, the tall blonde decided he'd had enough of the suffering, and ran into the fray with one of the extra balls. He yelled his battle cry, taking aim, and throwing the ball with enough power that it made the boy whom he hit double over in pain. He joined the featherweight players on their side of the gym, taking the ammunition that was handed to him. Projectiles were soon flying at a fast rate, opposing boys dropping like flies onto the wood of the court. All was well, until the savior of the little guys was hit in the face, going down with a thud. 

A hush fell over the gym, the only noise being Kari's sneakers squeaking as he hefted himself up. A red imprint of the rubber became a glaring reminder of the pain, and he felt his skin pull slightly as he smiled. He pointed lazily at the culprit.

"Get him." 

Suddenly everybody from every side of the court was throwing a ball at the boy, only stopping when Coach Hextall's whistle blew.

"Alright, alright! I think he's had enough!" Hextall went and pat the kid's shoulder. "Hit the locker room, now. The bell is gonna ring in ten minutes." 

As they all trudged to the showers, laughing and joking with the offender, Coach Roy spoke up. "Remember, there's an assembly after this period!" 

Kari blinked, remembering the assembly. He shook his head, skipping out on the shower to talk with Roy and Hextall. Three years of being in high school taught him that the awkward feeling you felt in there was something only freshmen could manage. Besides... He wasn't that sweaty, anyways. 

When the bell sounded, he took his stuff and met up with his brothers in the auditorium. Antoine sat pointedly next to him, three seats away from Chia. Kari didn't mention it, but he did have a rather intense eyebrow argument with Ryan, and couldn't help but smirk at Goose complaining at them again.

("Why does everyone keep stealing my seat?")

(Kari didn't want to think about how much he agreed with the offended tone in Goose's voice. Really, he was too tired to want to dwell on how it made his heart flutter.)

Jamie actually joined them for once, sitting next to Chia with a groan. He told them how "Paul and Nealer are fighting, so Sid sent me away. He said I was too young to understand, or whatever." Kari mentally thanked Sidney. The other boy knew to take care of his little brother.

A few minutes flew by, and one of the principal's tapped his microphone. The auditorium hardly quieted down, so he tapped it again, harder this time so it gave loud feedback. All the teenagers groaned in annoyance, but the message got through. They fell silent and settled into their seats to listen. 

"Now, I know there isn't really a need to say anything about acceptance in this school. You kids are very good about being tolerant of your peers," He paused looking out into the sea of bored students with a frown. "But due to earlier incidents this year, and even today, I feel the need to bring this up. Please be respectful to those around you. Mr. McGuire?" The guidance counselor scuttled up to the stage, grabbing the microphone with an awkward smile. 

"Um, thank you. Yes, Principal Howe is right. Respect." Kari lightly elbowed Antoine, who had his fist shoved into his mouth so he wouldn't laugh out loud. Really, Mr. McGuire didn't demand respect. "It really disappoints me that I have to remind you all of this. Racism and other discriminatory remarks are not tolerated in our school. With such a diverse student body, I am shocked that I have to say this." 

Kari rolled his eyes, and looked over to where he heard Goose chuckling quietly. Chia was gazing intensely in his direction, but he wasn't looking at him. Antoine shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny, refusing to meet it, and scooted closer to Kari. The blonde tried to ignore the way Chia's look turned cold, and turned back to pay attention to Mr. McGuire before holes started to burn into his skull.

"-With those sentiments, I think it is a perfect time to introduce a new teacher to you. He'll be teaching ninth-grade biology, and I hope you kids warm up to him like the other teachers have." He laughed, a bit nervously, and motioned someone to come up. "His name is Mr. Thomas." 

The man was tall, and well built. He had short, blonde hair and a striking mustache that made Kari like him already. He smiled kindly around the auditorium, making the expected speech where he spoke about how happy he was to be here, that he would work his hardest with the kids, blah blah blah. He seemed like a nice guy. 

Principal Howe took the mic again.

"Thank you for listening, and the students who have Mr. Thomas, you'll be seeing him tomorrow." Thinking that was it, the auditorium started to slowly drain of students, when Mr. McGuire called up a handful of kids to the stage. Kari groaned dramatically, drawing a chuckle from Jamie, who was picking at the hem of his shirt. 

"Hi, guys. I hope you've already heard about the welcoming job." Some nods. "Well, here you will be meeting the transfer students. Follow me." 

The group followed him to his office, where the transfers were staying. He opened the door to reveal some boys and girls talking, playing on their phones, or sitting nervously doing nothing. He invited everyone in to meet each other. 

"Brad this is Tyler. Amanda, Hilary. Jamie, meet Kevin..." 

Kari looked around for any other girls, for Valeri, but only saw two guys sitting on the couch. 

"Zdeno, here's Patrice." 

McGuire brought Kari over to the last boy, a blonde who was still pretty tall even sitting down. 

"Kari, this is Valerie." 

"Wait," Kari eyeballed him strangely. "He's a boy, but his name is Valerie?" 

"Nyet, menya zavoot Valeri." 

Oh, he thought. VAH-LERR-EE. The boy stood up, dwarfing the guidance counselor pretty much, but he was pretty even with Kari. He looked down shyly. 

"Uh, can we call you Val?" Jamie piped up, him and Kevin all smiles after talking briefly. Valeri looked up from beneath his lashes, small smile on his face. 

"OK." Kari felt his chest clench at the way Jamie beamed at him and the other blonde, and he couldn't help the smile that stretched across his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love goalies, can you tell? 
> 
> A cookie for anyone who got the Olympics reference. Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!
> 
> P.S.  
> Being racist or discriminating against someone because they are different is not cool, y'all. Keep that shiz in your mind only.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kari plays big brother.

After a few minutes of prodding, and both boys ending up equally frustrated at the language barrier, Kari found out Val was from Russia (No surprise there, but Kari didn't want to stereotype. The guy could have been from Ukraine or Belarus. I mean, seriously, he DID learn something from that assembly) and that he was staying with a host family while he waited for his own to immigrate. The conversation was short and awkward, so when Kari decided to drop by his English class quickly and tell Mr. Rome he had to show Val around, he was super aware of the Russian's deep blue gaze following the back of his head. They weren't doing anything but reading today in his class, so he was home free. Or, as home free as you could get with a tall, blonde shadow following you around, muttering anxiously in his native language that you didn't know a lick of.

He showed the boy the cafeteria, the library, all their computer labs, the bathrooms on each floor, and finally dragged him to Mr. Gonchar's class so he could maybe help the Finn out with translating. Val could understand English well enough, but didn't speak it. Mr. Gonchar smiled warmly, greeting them with a playful 'privyet.' He did that to everybody that came in the doorway, so he wasn't expecting it when Valeri started chattering excitedly in Russian, words shooting out of his mouth like a fire hose on full blast.  
Startled, but obviously pleased, Mr. Gonchar answered Val at a gentler pace. They chattered quickly, for the most part, Gonchar translating for Kari in the right places, and Val looking between their faces with childish glee. He really was a kid, though. At fourteen years old, he still had the wonder and whimsy that Kari had when he was eight, and came to the states for the first time. Suddenly, he felt affection for Val bubble in his chest, and a small, indulgent smile quirked his lips. 

"I need go bathroom," Val suddenly said, looking to Kari with confusion. "It over there, yes?" He pointed outside, to where the intersection of the hallways was. The older boy nodded, and watched him leave the room with a hum. With the speed that would give a lesser man whiplash, Gonchar turned on him.

"Kari," He started, about to say something until he calmed down a little. He took a deep breath. "Kari, are you getting enough sleep?" He looked at him intently, and Kari wished he'd gone with Val. His teacher was kneading his hands nervously, though, and it suddenly seemed like Kari wasn't the only one missing out on sleep anymore. He sighed, the day catching up to his body like a freight train, and it just felt too easy when he started to talk. 

"No, not really." 

"Have you... How long?"

"Years. Since before high school."

"Have you seen a doctor?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"My family." 

"Have you tried stopping it before?"

"Yes." 

"Did anything work, at all?"

"Not for long." 

"Okay." Gonchar made a helpless noise in the back of his throat. Kari wanted to feel offended at that, or touched that his teacher would care. He wanted to be frustrated that he couldn't do anything about his many sleepless nights, angry that anyone would try to intrude in his life, sad that it looked so hopeless. He wanted to feel ANYTHING that wasn't the tired numbness that beset him. The only thing that registered, though, was the slow, tortuous shut down of his body. 

He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. The older man came to sit next to him, setting a large hand on his shoulder.  
"It's nothing I can't handle," He mumbled. "I'm fine, really." Nothing more was said on the subject, and Val came back from the bathroom, looking slightly traumatized and confused out of his mind. 

"I go find bathroom, but man come out nowhere and start talking me," He huffed a little. "Say name Ovechkin?" And, oh. That explained the traumatized part. Val said something in Russian, tone very much still bewildered, and a chuckle tore its way out of Gonchar's throat. Kari thought it sounded like sandpaper being rubbed against a brick wall. 

"He says, 'little lambs should not be wandering around without a shepherd.' " Val only shook his head, deciding that memorizing all those words was too much for one day. 

The bell rang. 

Kari mumbled a 'bye' to his teacher, tugging on Val's sleeve to get him to move. The boy looked like he wanted to stay, but didn't protest. He just waved forlornly at Gonchar. The hallway started to fill up quickly, so the two tried to move as fast as they could through the sea of bodies. Kari directed his charge to his car, where Goose and Ryan were waiting already. They noticed them once they stepped into the parking lot, and waved.

"Um, guys. This is Valeri," He hoped the smile he shot at Val was reassuring. "He's from Russia." After a few minutes of Ryan fawning over the boy, Kari noticed the tense posture that Goose had adopted. He seemed to stand taller, chest puffed up, and his chin jutted out. Like a gorilla, Kari thought with a smirk. 

"We can't take him home." The brunette blurted out, refusing to meet anybody's eye. "There's no room in the car for another person." Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Antoine went home already," Goose practically deflated. "One of the transfers found him puking in the bathroom." Ryan paused, humming in thought.

"By the way," He settled Kari with a stare. "How many new kids were there?" The blonde thought about it for a minute, remembering all of the boys and girls in McGuire's office. 

"I don't know, maybe fifteen?" He adjusted his backpack so it wouldn't dig into his shoulder anymore. "Why?" 

"Just wondering," He lied. Kari only narrowed his eyes and ignored it. If Ryan had a crush on somebody, he didn't want to dishearten him. The guy really deserved someone great, he was too good for a lot of the people Kari saw him stare at. Well, at least Kari thought so. 

When Chia finally trudged up to the car, they all filed in. Val took the front passenger seat, and flinched slightly when Goose made a strangled, frustrated noise. He only calmed a little bit when Kari assured him it was fine, he can sit there, and don't be a bitch, Goose. The ride was all kinds of awkward, silent until Kari asked him where he would be dropping Val off. "Um, host family work late." He looked down shyly.

"That's okay, you can just hang out with us." The blonde made a sharp U-Turn, heading in the direction of the house. He only felt a little satisfied at the annoyed noises the backseat made when he jostled them all, so he wasn't a complete asshole. Only a little. 

As they arrived, and everyone followed Kari into the small house like ducklings, he led them to the kitchen, where he could hear laughter. Jordie and Brenden were sitting at the table, huddled close together, while Jamie and Kevin were sitting on the counter. He didn't think about how Val would react to the gay thing. Shit. He glanced quickly at the Russian, who only seemed uncomfortable with the way Goose was staring at him. Not good, exactly, but Kari could at least breathe a tiny sigh of relief. 

More introductions were made, and Kari felt a little swell of adoration at the way Kevin and Val flocked to each other. Jordie seemed to as well, and shot a knowing look at him, his smile big and quirky. Kari rolled his eyes, but let the infectious joy take him over for a second. That second was over too quickly, though, when he suddenly remembered Antoine suffering quietly in his room. He made the excuse of going to the bathroom, hightailing it past Chia before the younger boy got the same idea. 

He barged right into Antoine's bedroom, the one he had to share with Chia, and saw the Frenchman clutching a pillow to his face as his body shook with sobs. He shut the door quickly, and jumped onto the bed so he could wrap his arms around his brother easier. The boy tensed, as if he was about to attack. 

"It's me, Antoine. Shh, it's just me," Kari cooed, only hugging him tighter when he felt the boy go slack and start to cry harder. "I'm right here. Don't worry." Both their bodies were wracked by the power of Antoine's crying, and Kari felt his heart break into a million tiny pieces for him. 

He didn't know how long they were there for, only measuring time by the ragged breaths Antoine would take as he tried to regain his composure. It could have been years, for all he cared. The only thing that mattered to him right now was heartbreak that wasn't his own, but concerned him anyways. Sad that the first thing he felt right then was somebody else's overpowering emotion, but not even his own self-pity could make him care about that. He only cared about Antoine.

When the grief gradually stopped, only leaving stuttering hiccups in its wake, Kari tried to lay the boy down. If he felt Antoine curl into him more, clutching at his shirt like it was the only thing that would keep the both of them from floating off into space, he didn't mention it. 

Kari only held him close, and for the first time in his life, he was grateful for not being able to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It made me a little upset to write this. Antoine made me sad. 
> 
> I'll be updating about every week or so, maybe even more frequent if I can. 
> 
> Comments and Kudos appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kari keeps realizing how awesome his family is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter is short. Whoops.

When Chia came in, Kari's stupid body got such a shock out of it that he jolted suddenly, falling out of the bed. He looked up in fright, scared that he woke up Antoine. The boy just snuffled cutely in his sleep. Kari stood as quickly as he could with all the blankets still tangled in his long legs, and managed a slightly dignified waddle towards the door. Before he could make any protest, Chia had a hand clamped down over his mouth, and was pulled back out into the hallway against his will. 

"If you go in there and decide to wake him up, you better make him feel loved and accepted, or I will shove Jordie's old hockey stick so far up your ass that by the time you see it again, the Florida Panther's will have won the Stanley Cup three seasons in a row." 

All this was said with a cold, blue glare that made the smaller boy gulp, and scurry away with a nervous 'yes, sir' thrown over his shoulder. Not really satisfied with the situation, Kari trudged downstairs to the kitchen to find that nobody had left. Val was still chatting as well as he could with Kevin, a smile creeping up his flushed cheeks every time Kevin would laugh. Jamie and Ryan were in a lighthearted argument over whether or not Daffy Duck could beat up Donald Duck, and if the winner could beat Mickey Mouse with his Disney army. Honestly, how did they even get on that train of thought? 

"What if they're brothers?" Goose piped up from inside the refrigerator. He pulled out a few sodas, tossing one to Kari when he walked in. 

"They're totally different sizes and colors! That's impossible!" Jamie huffed, crossing his arms. 

"Half brothers," Ryan countered him with a smirk. 

Jamie glared at him, batting at his arm weakly. "They dont even have the same "parents"! They come from totally different companies!" Ryan just shrugged. "Nope, I'm done with this conversation." Jamie crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out. He pouted at Ryan's laugh, but smiled after a second. 

Kari rolled his eyes, and went to lean on the counter by the other blondes. Brenden and Jordie set about to making dinner, kicking everybody out into the living room, though, so the Finn allowed himself to settle on the couch. He sprawled out on it so nobody else could sit there, which earned him groans from everyone. Kevin found a quick solution, though, and landed bottom first on Kari's stomach. Kari let out a comical 'oomph', attempting to kick Val off of his legs and failing. 

"God!" He moaned. "You're both so heavy!" 

"Hey!" Jordie called out from the kitchen. "Did you guys call your parents? I don't wanna get arrested because they thought you were kidnapped!" The two boys shouted back that yes, they have indeed called their parents to let them know they are staying for dinner. Well, at least, Kevin said so. Val looked at Kari worriedly.

"Alright, get off." When the only thing the older boy felt was Kevin wiggling on his diaphragm, he made up his mind to get revenge. He rolled them all off the couch, ending up in a pile on the carpet with Val's big frame on top. Now they all let out an oomph. Jamie laughed, and Ryan face palmed. "Get off!" Kari whined again, attempting to drag his body from beneath them all. "Goose, help me." The brunette rolled his eyes fondly, and pulled him out. 

Val's English on the phone was more nervous than it was when he was talking to somebody face to face. He stumbled to tell his host mother where he was, so Kari took the phone and had a short, pleasant conversation. When he told her that he was a friend from school, she started to gush about how happy she was that the Russian was already meeting new people, and that it was fine if he wanted to stay. 

Dinner was... Interesting. Instead of eating in the kitchen, everybody was directed to their small backyard because there weren't enough chairs (or any room left at the table) to make everybody comfortable. Some of the boys made themselves spots in lawn chairs, while others just sat on the ground. Both Antoine and Chia had come out to eat looking rather sullen, but true to form, their brothers just pat them on the back and didn't mention it.

Tonight's meal was Sloppy Joe's. When Val asked for a napkin, Brenden just handed him the roll of paper towels, and told him to take it with him. It didn't help. It was obvious the kid hadn't ever eaten something like this before, and he spilled half the sandwich down his front in the first bite. Jordie only tsk'd lightly, patting the boy on the shoulder.

"Bad luck, kid." He looked at Kari. "You got any shirts he could borrow?" 

The two blondes went back inside, and when Kari looked at Val, he was about two seconds from crying. Big brother instincts kicked in, and he had an arm around the younger's shoulders in no time. He thought bitterly about Antoine's breakdown for a moment, but moved on just as quickly.

"Hey, it's okay. It was an accident, Val," Kari smiled a little. "Right? Trying new things can get messy, you know." Val took in a shaky breath, nodding. They trudged up the stairs silently, and once safe in Kari's bedroom, Valeri calmed some. Kari pulled out a light blue t shirt from his closet, waiting for Val to trade him his dirty one. 

He looked away when the boy stripped himself of the messy article of clothing, but couldn't help peeking over his shoulder to see the way Val's back muscles flexed when he lifted his arms. When Val was clean, they headed back outside to find everybody else staring at them with big eyes. They all had Sloppy Joe covering their faces and shirts, and were being strangely quiet. Kevin snorted. 

His laughter quickly infected the rest of the group, and suddenly they were all in stitches. Kari clapped Val on the shoulder and collapsed next to Goose with a sigh. His brother looked back at him with contentment, eyes shining and mouth painted with red sauce, and they were swept up in another fit of giggling. Kari only thought a little bit about the absurdness of the situation, but was overwhelmingly reminded of how great his family actually was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is late, I have been going to these seminars at a local college, and have been swamped with so much crap. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kari comes to realize that everybody has a crush on Colton Sceviour.

Antoine yawned, padding across the floor toward Kari's bed. Soft moonlight filtered through the window, framing Antoine's face, and illuminated his sandy locks as he stood inside the doorway. He reached out, and knocked on the wall.

He mumbled. "Can I sleep in here tonight?" 

Kari looked up from his computer, giving Antoine a once-over. His eyes were red rimmed, and his shoulders shook badly. 

"...Sure, bud."

Antoine nodded. He toed at the ground for a moment, then peeked up at his brother from beneath his eyelashes. Kari rolled his eyes, put his computer on stand by, and pushed the boy into bed. Antoine curled up against him, nuzzling his nose against Kari's. 

"I'm sorry," Antoine huffed, catching Kari's eye. "I don't want to be a nuisance." The air conditioner started up, loud, and both boys jumped. Kari rested their foreheads against each other.

"I don't mind, really."

Antoine smirked.

"Good."

Kari jostled Antoine. The clock read 7:56, and the blonde could already hear the sounds of movement in the hallways. He didn't have the heart to push him out of bed earlier, but he had to now. Antoine shifted a bit, then rolled over. He sprawled on top of Kari, not caring if he was being a nuisance anymore. 

"Ugh, get off of me," Kari grumbled. "I don't understand you people and your fascinations with being on top of me." Antoine chuckled, but stood up. He stretched a little, bending down, and wiggled his bottom at his older brother. "No, get your ass out of my face!" Kari shoved him, and started to laugh when Antoine fell forward and landed on his face. 

"Kari do you know where my--" Goose walked into his room with his backpack in hand. "Oh. Hi, froggy." The brunette looked away, shuffling his sock-clad feet. "I'll just wait downstairs for you guys, I guess." Antoine shot a look at Kari, and frowned. 

"What was that about?" Kari shrugged, but made a note to find out after breakfast. 

The two parted ways so they could get dressed, meeting up in the kitchen afterwards. Kari scarfed down his toast, and tried not to stare. Alex didn't even brush his hair, it was sticking out in all directions, and his skin seemed pale. Antoine looked past him, sitting next to Kari instead. 

Jamie and Ryan were having a silent, bug-eyed conversation across the table. Jordie and Brenden were already off to work, so it was just the kids. Jamie cleared his throat, excused himself from the table, and went to the living room. Goose passed him by, and gave one look at the rest of the boys, before he threw Antoine out of his seat. Literally. 

"What the fuck, Goligoski?" Antoine roared. "What are you doing?" 

"Would you fuckers stop stealing my seat?" Goose yelled at everyone. "Christ, I was here first!" 

Kari rubbed his brow, anger starting to flare up, and tugged Goose down into the chair. He felt the boy go rigid beside him with some satisfaction, and invited Antoine to sit in the seat on the other side of him. The rest of breakfast was quiet, the silence only broken when Ryan brought up one of the transfers. He smiled a little when he talked, asking Kari if he heard the name of this guy. 

"Why can't you ask him yourself?" Kari smirked. 

Ryan stared at him. "Because. I can't." 

"Yes you can."

"Nope."

"Hey guys," Jamie said softly. "I'm leaving." A few grunts and wave, then Jamie was out the door. Ryan checked his phone, then told them they had to go, too. Soon, everyone was out the door and in the car. With a cold glare shot at Goose, Antoine immediately sat in the back without any argument. 

At lunch, their table was more packed than before. Goose was talking loudly with his best friend since seventh grade, Trevor Daley. Trevs was a shorter guy, but he made up for it in his energy and sass. Ryan had dragged with him his closest boy Cody Eakin, and a guy Kari recognized as a transfer. Eaks had the reddest hair of anyone Kari had ever seen, even more than the Staal brothers combined, and freckles covered every inch of visible skin. He was a sarcastic little shit, but Kari would be lying if he said he cared. Eaks was one of the realest guys he knew, and the ginger was always there if you needed him. 

Now, this other guy was something. Ryan was giggling at everything he said, so Kari figured it was Ryan's crush. He had dark hair, and a derpy smile that was contagious. Kari could already feel the corners of his lips twitching upward. And he had these eyebrows. These magnificent beauties that were obviously well taken care of. But the most striking part about him was his eyes. They were a deep brown, bright and full of life. He was gorgeous. 

So pretty, in fact, that Kari tripped over his own two feet, and hit the tile before him. Val shouted a little in surprise, and raced to pick him up with the help of Kevin. When he was righted, the blonde chuckled nervously, and sat across from Goose. The group of boys (with the exception of Val, who was only looking around in confusion) chirped him a bit before calming down. Chia and Antoine joined them soon afterwards, talking quietly to each other in French. 

"Guys," Ryan coughed, gathering the attention of everyone at the table. "This is Colton Sceviour. He's a sophomore, too." Colton smiled, and all of them practically melted, mumbling a dazed greeting.

After settling back down with their trays of food, Goose started up with the whole 'Henrik Lundqvist is gay' campaign from the day before. Eaks was the only other guy who bought it, and the two were already making a solid pact that they would never stop believing when Kari thought about stopping them. Colton was regarding them with a look of bewilderment that most people would whenever Goose and Eaks were together. 

Kari kept one eye trained on the kid most of lunch, trying to wheedle out any potential turn-offs for Ryan (or himself, whatever. Did it really matter who it was for?). It was a useless endeavor. The kid was totally charming, even when he called Goose an asshole. He recovered gracefully, apologizing with that smile that made even Trevs go slack. 

Val was explaining something to both Chia and Antoine with large gestures, nearly whacking Kevin in the face. Ryan invited Colton over to the house, which inevitably lead to Goose inviting everyone else, too. Somehow Kevin and Trevor ended up in a thumb war, then an arm wrestle, and finally to them grappling at each other from across the table. Eaks was cheering on Kevin when Goose hopped in himself. As their little group pile-on slowly got bigger, Kari made an amused noise. 

"We are the weirdest people on the planet, aren't we?" 

Colton chuckled, and startled Kari out of his thoughts. "Heh. Yeah you are." 

Lunch went by smoothly after that, and when Kevin clapped Kari on the back, he realized he was humming under his breath! 

"You're happy, huh?" Kevin laughed.

Kari smiled down at him, murmuring softly, "Guess I am."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone should just punch me in the face. I feel bad that I couldn't update this last week, so I hope the introduction of these lovely characters brought you some joy? I made a deal with myself this morning.   
> I said, "Pucky, you are gonna fart out another chapter before midnight whether you like it or not!"
> 
> And guess what? I did it! 
> 
> Comments and Kudos appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kari just wanted to finish his homework.

"Wait, wait, wait. You really believe he's gay?"

Kari sat at the table with his backpack open, digging around for an eraser. His history worksheets were spread out in front of him, reviewing whatever Civil War battles the district decided was worth remembering, while his brothers tried to highlight (read: argue about) the finer points of their school's gay community. Ryan looked a little mortified, because Colton had gone to the bathroom ten minutes ago, and hadn't come back. 

"Kevin, dude. Come on. It's so obvious! He and his brother are always so, like, touchy-feely with each other."

Kari scratched out an answer on his paper. Seriously, what did the Civil War have to do with world geography? Goose shoved his elbow in Kari's workspace, and nearly lost it to the frustrated Finn. Kevin laughed in his ear, loudly, and when Ryan started complaining about how embarrassing his family was, Kari stood up. 

"But what if they're just really-"

Kari shoved Kevin away from him. The bewildered blonde spluttered for a moment, but clamped his mouth shut in the end. 

 

"I just want to do my homework." Kari glared at everybody in the kitchen, and stomped out with his backpack. 

He grit his teeth when he heard Trevor say, "Who the hell shoved that stick up his ass?"

On his way up the stairs, he ran into Chia, who still looked like he had been hit by a truck. The younger narrowed his eyes at the blonde, and shoved past him. Kari's arm dug uncomfortably into the railing, as all of his papers fell out of his backpack. With a snarl, Kari flipped off the back of Chia's head, then grabbed his shoulder. 

"What's your problem, Alex?" Chia glared at him. "Well?" 

"Fuck off." Chia shrugged out of his brother's grip, and shoved his hands into his pockets. "You're an asshole." The boy stalked down the stairs, heading straight for the backyard. 

Kari frowned. "Whatever."

He picked up his shit and moved on, not even batting an eye when he saw Antoine napping in his bed. The boy was squished awkwardly against the wall, back to the door, and snuffling quietly into the light blue comforter. Kari sighed, then set his homework down. There was no way he was going to get any of it done. 

He collapsed in his chair, letting out a big breath of air. The late afternoon sun bathed his room in orange, nearly blinding him if he looked through his window. He heard a car pull up in the drive. Brenden's loud voice carried through the air, his laugh causing Antoine to startle, murmur a curse or five, and startle again when he saw Kari. 

Kari was pretty sure he felt his eye twitch. 

The house practically exploded with soun, then. Kari and Antoine shared a look before they rushed downstairs, sensing a fight brewing between their brothers. What they got was more confusion than anything else. 

Kevin and Val were backed into the kitchen, one looking startled, while the other looked like he was ready to panic. Kari watched as Antoine rounded the corner, and ran after him when he heard a shout. The living room was a big hug fest (Brenden was forcing Eaks' face into his armpit when Kari came in), and Antoine was on the bottom of a dog pile last time the blonde saw him. 

There was a noise behind Kari, a cough. The Finn whirled around to see a head of dark curls. Colton gave him an amused smirk, walking past him to sit on the loveseat next to Ryan. Kari's face went hot. 

"Who the fuck is that?" Jordie yelped underneath Goose and Jamie. 

"Wow, that's pretty much what you said when you met Kev and Val!" Ryan chuckled. He pat the elder Benn's face. "You're so cultured, Jordie!" 

"I'm Colton," The brunette smiled. "Nice to meet you." Ryan practically cooed at him, and Kari could already see the 'Isn't He Just Dreamy?' look in his eyes. 

(Kari didn't miss Brenden's smile.) 

(He didn't miss Jordie's fake one, either.)

When everyone inevitably stayed for dinner, they all shuffled towards the backyard. Chia took one look at all of them, then booked it inside, not even sparing a glare at any of them. 

"Where the fuck are you going?" Goose asked behind a mouthful of spaghetti. Chia just answered by slamming the backdoor, the screen frame wobbling dangerously. Everybody's gaze locked on Kari. 

"Fucking come on. I'm the last person he wants to see right now." 

After a small amount of silence, Kari dumped his untouched food on the plate next to his, which happened to be Trevor's (who had let out a loud whoop when it happened), and stood up. 

"I'll go get him." 

When he got inside, Kari stood in the living room, just rubbing his temples with conviction. 

He decided to humor his family a little. He checked his phone, drank some water, and boxed up the left-over spaghetti for later. He wouldn't be eating for a few hours, he could tell. After few more minutes of dicking around, he went to talk to Chia. He already knew where he would be. 

Kari walked into his room, he saw the Quebec native digging around his backpack, opening drawers in his desk. He was muttering to himself in French, and Kari recognized a few choice words that would make even Antoine blush. The blonde crept up behind Chia quietly, and when Chia made a triumphant noise, holding up the keys to Kari's car, Kari gently settled his hands on the other's shoulders. Chia froze.

"What are you doing?"

"Christ! Fuck, leave me alone!" 

"And then what, Alex?"

"Fuck you."

"You aren't driving my car." 

Kari snatched the away the keys. He lightly jostled the younger boy, and felt more than saw him deflate. Chia peered at him from behind slumped shoulders, making Kari's chest clench up. Dark green eyes swam with tears, and seemed to plead with him to do something. Kari shook his head.

"Fine, let's go. But I'm driving."

Kari's favorite car was his Ford. Of course, he was a little biased, and granted, there were only three cars in their family, but still. Jordie brought up his truck from high school, Brenden inherited his van from a cousin. Kari's was his graduation gift. All three cars were bought used, and slaved over until their engines worked better. They were dented and kind of rusty in some places, but every blemish of the metal was a memory to all of them in some way.

Kari rubbed a hand over the faded silver hood, smiling a little. He remembered the morning he got it, during the summer at a Fourth of July party. Ryan hopped all over him, then stole the keys. He tripped on the gravel of their friends' driveway and busted his lip on the roof of the car. Needless to say, he never took Kari's keys again.

Chia slammed the passenger door, and jarred Kari out of his thoughts. The blonde shot him a look. He could still hear his family talking loudly in the backyard, but it didn't stop him. He got in and started up the car. 

They cruised around the neighborhood for awhile, until the sky got dark. They pulled up to a local convenience store. Kari shot a quick text to Jordie, telling him where they were, then dragged Chia inside. They bought a bag of Doritos and some Cokes, so they could hang out a bit before going back home. The two boys sat in the Ford, silent except for the crinkle of the chip bag, or the fizz of the sodas. 

"He just pisses me off, you know?" Chia suddenly growled. Kari eyed him warily.

"We used to be able to talk about whatever! And now, he's just...avoiding me! Does he think I hate him all of a sudden?" 

Chia rubbed his face furiously. 

"And now, he's hanging all over you all the time! Why the fuck is this happening to me?" Kari folded his arms self-consciously. "I just. I always thought we'd be okay..." 

He stopped talking, and looked Kari in the eye. Tears streamed down his face. 

"I..." Kari stuttered a bit. He heaved a sigh. "Let's go home." Chia nodded, wiping his face with the hem of his shirt.

Driving back was quiet and tense, but when they got home, Kari felt like his arms were noodles. Before Chia could trudge inside, Kari caught him by the wrist, and pulled him into a tight hug. He could feel the boy's hands fisted in his shirt, and when he let go, Chia was crying again. 

"We'll figure this out, okay?" Kari murmured. "We will." 

Chia just wiped his eyes, and walked inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, I finally got this chapter finished! After my computer deleted it four times. 
> 
> Comments and Kudos are appreciated!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kari realizes some things about himself. And maybe someone else, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit all over the place. Sorry bout that :/

Kari glared at his desk, pointedly ignoring the stare that was burning holes into his skull. He scribbled in the margin of his notebook paper, waiting for the rest of the class to finish the worksheet. He just wanted someone to make noise, because it was much too quiet for his taste. And to be honest, Mr. Gonchar was making him uncomfortable.

The old fart kept looking at him. If Kari shifted even a little, Gonchar would tense up, acting like he was going to tackle him. Ever since their little "heart to heart", things were more than a little awkward between them. Gonchar treated him like he would break if the school's air conditioning blew on him the wrong way, like he would fall apart. 

Kari sighed. He really wanted to take a nap, but, besides the obvious problem, he didn't doubt that someone would be staring at him. He folded his paper up in boredom, unfolded it, crinkled it, ripped it into little pieces. The only thing left to do was burn it (which sounded awesome right about now). 

Ten minutes of silence grated on his ears, and he was about to rip his hair out when the bell rang. Groans and sighs erupted from the class as many of the kids stood and stretched. Kari made his way out of the class with the hoard of teenagers, but was stopped by a big hand grabbing his shoulder. Mr. Gonchar gave him a look, and they both lagged behind the others. 

"Kari, see me after school." 

Kari stepped back in surprise. 

"...Yes, sir."

If Mr. Whitney noticed anything wrong with the Finn, he didn't say anything about it. He only clapped him on the shoulder, and mumbled under his breath about the next generation being too strange (which he did often, so it was nothing new). 

Lunch was pretty much uneventful, save for the few loud laughs that Antoine and Goose let loose. Chia was still not talking, Ryan and Colton flirted enough to make Trevor fake gag, and Val seemed to be taking notes, at the encouragement of Kevin and Cody, of course. Kari put his sandwich down to give them a chastising look. They didn't even have the good grace to fake innocence, only giggling at the older boy. 

The end of the school day was there in no time, much to Kari chagrin. He texted his brothers, telling them to either wait, or get another ride. When he stepped into Gonchar's classroom, Valeri and Kevin were chatting with the man. Val was speaking excitedly in Russian, arms gesticulating violently. When his hand slapped Kevin once, then twice, the shorter blonde grabbed it, holding it in his until Val sputtered to a halt. Gonchar gave a hefty laugh, one that echoed loudly in the empty classroom. By the time they noticed the Finn, he was already edging out the doorway. 

"Hey, Kari! Wait a moment," Gonchar nodded to the other boys. "If you'll excuse us?" Kevin, still clutching Val's hand in his, dragged the boy out of the classroom. 

"We'll just...umm, Kari, can we get a ride?" Kevin chuckled. 

"Yeah," Kari replied, stifling a smirk. 

Gonchar stood and waved them out, closing the door behind them. He frowned at Kari. 

"You're getting worse."

Kari was unimpressed. 

"Well, thank you, Mr. Gonchar. I had no idea!" 

The man looked as if he was considering physical harm. Kari chuckled. 

"Your sarcasm won't help your situation," Gonchar said. Kari went still, the air in the room suddenly serious. "In fact, I think it will make it worse." Kari narrowed his eyes, unamused and even a little pissed that he would cross that line. "Kari, if you-" 

Kari cut him off. "Mr. Gonchar, I don't really think it's your place to tell me how I feel." 

"Kari, listen! I don't want you to get hurt!" There was a pregnant pause. "I have the number of my family doctor. If you just talk to him, you'll-" Kari felt his shoulders tense painfully.

"Listen, old man," Gonchar's eyes widened a bit in insult. "I'm perfectly fine with my life as it is. I don't need you coming around trying to doctor it up. I've been able to live with a little less sleep for more than half my life. Nothing bad has happened,"

"Yet."

Kari continued as if he didn't hear him, "and nothing will make me change if I don't need to. So, back off, okay?"

Kari shouldered his backpack, and left, maybe slamming the door too hard on his way out. 

As he stalked down the hallway, Kevin and Val trailed, babbling confusedly at him. Truthfully, the Finn didn't listen to them. He only started to when Val landed face first on the school's off-color tile. Kevin scrambled to lift the Russian off the ground, ignoring the guy that was the reason of the incident, but Kari didn't. Sean Avery smirked at them from across the hall. 

"You should watch where you're going, little guy." Kari glared daggers at him, and nearly ended him right there. The only thing that stopped him was the tearful look Val was giving him from the floor. 

"Grow up." Kari ground out. 

"Where the hell have you been?" Goose shouted from across the lot. Antoine and Chia were next to him, having an argument in clipped French. "I've been stuck with these two for, like, twenty minutes!" He shot them a look from over his shoulder. He whispered conspiratorially, "And they won't even speak English!" 

Kari cuffed him over the head, willing him to be silent. "You live with them. I assume Ryan went with Colton?" At Goose's nod, he quirked his lips. "Damn it. There's still not enough room in the car." 

Goose laughed, "Someone will just have to share with Val, then." Kevin jumped to volunteer, but he was rebuffed. "You're too big, Kev. I think it'll have to be Antoine." Kari almost hit his brother again. He knew Chia wanted to, and Antoine adamantly verbalized his disagreement with that plan. Kevin only grinned.

"Actually, Goosey, you're the smallest here," Kevin's grin turned Cheshire. "I'm sure Kari wouldn't mind giving up the wheel for a day." Goose flushed a little, but otherwise ignored the remark. He got in the passenger side without a word. Everyone else save for Kari laughed. Although they thought the joke was funny, the blonde made it quite clear that no one but him touched his baby, and that made the rest of them shut up. Let them guess what it meant, Kari thought. Let them feel awkward about it. 

Kevin eventually did end up on Val's lap, although neither of them were complaining, and they gave all their energy to whatever conversation with Antoine was at hand. Chia didn't even try, save a few sneered words in French, and popped some earbuds in. Antoine only steamed a little bit. But, thankfully, they at least weren't poking or elbowing each other.

Though Kari was worried for Chia, he was more worried at the moment for Goose. The brunette had clammed up, not even joking around with the others. He didn't even pretend to play on his phone like Chia did. He just kept peering over at Kari with a look the blonde couldn't quite pinpoint. It made him nervous. 

That night, although Kari's mind was swimming with guilt and rage over Mr. Gonchar's attempted intervention, something else kept taking up his thoughts. Goose's face kept popping up, his name, the sound of his voice. He was the reason Kari couldn't even think about closing his eyes for more than a second. He was afraid of what he'd find there. 

Although, when Kari was staring at his ceiling full of cracks, he tried to forget about the way his stomach would flutter at the thought of Goose's blush. It was kind of, sorta, a little bit adorable, the way Goose's pale skin lit up red, the way he worried his lip when he was embarrassed, the way he swiped his tongue out when he was thinking. Kari tried to ignore the way his heart would pound when Goose would smile, all bright white teeth. He tried to not think about the way his laugh lit up Kari's world. Tried to overlook the fact that some, if not all, of Kari's favorite childhood memories were with Alex. But he couldn't. 

The normal fitful dozes Kari was thrown into every night were filled with Alex. Maybe his eyes, maybe the tenor din of his voice. Something fleeting about the brunette that made Kari almost ache. 

When Kari woke up thirty minutes after another hazy dream, he grabbed his pillow, and screamed. He hoped the fabric muffled his voice enough, because he seriously couldn't deal with any of his brothers at all in that moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to say right here and now that I don't dislike Sergei Gonchar. In fact, I love the old coot. I just assume that was how Sassy!Kari would handle him. 
> 
> This was a really dialogue heavy chapter, which I'm a little disappointed about, but, Whatevs. This was a quick one, I'm trying to speed up the plot a bit. FORESHADOWING!!!
> 
> Comments and kudos appreciated!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kari can't wait for Thanksgiving this year.

"Ryan, you looked so cute!" Colton smiled at him from across the kitchen table, holding up a picture of him when he was ten. He was covered head to toe in suds, holding a big yellow sponge that was dripping. Ryan had the biggest smile on his face, probably because their dad was there behind him, hands resting on Ryan's shoulders. 

Ryan blushed profusely, smiling shyly back at Colton. Kari narrowed his eyes at them from the kitchen doorway. The two had been spending a lot more time together lately, and now Colton and his family were spending Thanksgiving with them. Kari noted that Ryan didn't ride with him to or from school now, and he barely saw his younger brother anymore. It was like what happened to Jamie, but maybe not as hurtful. Colton was only one guy, after all. 

Kari was snapped out of his thoughts by Kevin, who pushed the Finn a little from behind, forcing him into the kitchen with him. The younger blonde gave little preamble before asking for what he wanted.

"So..." Kari quirked an eyebrow at him. "Sean can't drive me to school anymore." Kevin toed the ground sheepishly. "Will you give me a ride?" 

Kari rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "I already feed you and drive you home at night. Might as well." 

Kevin beamed up at him, reminding Kari of a puppy. He pawed at Kari's arm, and ran out of the kitchen with an excited 'thank you' thrown over his shoulder for good measure. The couple at the table didn't even spare them a glance. 

Kari grabbed an apple, biting into it with a curious look at Colton and Ryan. They were leaning closer to each other than before, talking too low to hear. Kari left before he saw anything happen. 

Their living room was packed with adults and teens alike, as the families tried to plan their Thanksgiving. Val's host family was chatting happily away with Jordie and Brenden, delighted to meet the couple who was taking care of their charge almost everyday. They insisted they help prepare the house and food, as a favor. Jordie was quick to take them up on it. 

Cody and Trevor's respective families usually spent Thanksgiving with the Benn's anyway, and they were always fun and loud and excited. They also brought surplus food, which would probably all be eaten by the end of the upcoming holiday. There was finally enough people to do that. Colton's parents were glad to be invited along, as well as Kevin's. They were all new in town, and were willing to take up their neighbor's invitation to party. 

Kari weaved around the full living room, pointedly ignoring the corner Alex was in. He was talking to Sean, Kevin's brother, and Kari practically suffocated the jealousy that threatened to make itself known. Instead of thinking about his brother, he sat with Val. The boy had been quiet most of the day, hardly coming out of his shell for even Kevin. 

"Are you alright?" Kari asked, sitting shoulder to shoulder with him. 

"Yes, tired." The Russian responded. "New holiday exciting." Kari could feel a painful case of homesickness and culture shock coming on, so he changed the subject. 

"What do you think about the school?" 

The older boy flushed a bit in embarrassment. That was the only thing he could think of at the moment. Valeri eyed him tiredly. 

"Big. Many other Russians. I meet some in hallways sometimes. Is nice." He gave a weak smile, and Kari bumped their knees together. 

"At least you have people who will help you. When I moved to the States, no one could understand me at all." He chuckled a bit. "I filtered through a bunch of foster homes before I finally ended up with these goof balls," He gestured to his brothers. "By then, I still didn't know much English." 

"Really?" Val looked at him sideways, eyes glimmering with amusement. "Kari Lehtonen not pick up English like that?" The boy snapped his fingers to prove his point, shaking his head. "I not believe." 

"Don't believe me all you want, but it's true. Ask Jordie." Kari smiled, and slumped into the couch with a content sigh. He spent a comfortable silence with Val beside him, until Alex decided to wrestle Antoine with him onto the couch. Chia leered at them from the wall. 

"Come on, froggy!"

"Goose, you dumbfuck!" 

They both squirmed against Val first, then were pushed onti Kari. From beneath them, Kari bemoaned his entire existence. 

"Why me?" He groaned. "Why?" Alex laughed, and wiggled against him, barely dodging Antoine's flying elbow. 

He didn't even feel the hand pressing down on his upper thigh, dangerously close to his groin. Nope, didn't feel it at all. 

Not one little bit. 

Eventually, when everyone had left to go home, with shouted promises of being back the next day, the whole household was practically silent, with the exception of Ryan and Jamie talking about Colton and...someone else.

"Oh yeah! Isn't he that dude hanging around Chara's table all the time?" 

"Yeah. We have the same computer class."

"He sounds like trouble. The cute ones are always trouble." 

"Whatever. I still think he's nice."

"Yeah, nice looking." 

"Yeah, that too."

Kari blinked, turning off the light in the bathroom. It's not like he hadn't heard this kind of talk from either of them before, but... He wondered, why weren't Chia and Antoine yelling at them to shut the fuck up and go to sleep? He popped his head in the doorway to see Jamie sitting on Ryan's bed, giggling a little and showing him his phone. The two other boys were already bundled up in their respective bunks, Chia on top, Antoine on bottom. Neither moved. Jamie and Ryan's lamp, which they had both proudly co-parented for three years, and named Jaun, was filling the otherwise dim room with soft yellow light. 

"Hey," Kari murmured. They looked up at him. "Go to bed."

They pouted at him, and continued talking until he threatened to pull big brother on them and take their phones. They snarked at him a good night, turning off Juan. 

The Finn walked down the hall towards the stairwell, and stopped when he heard the loud snoring. Usually, Alex would sleep on their couch, even after Kari offered his bedroom. When they moved into this small house after their parents died, it was all they could afford at the time. They had been able to buy beds and mattresses from secondhand shops, eBay, Craigslist. You really could find everything on the internet. Around the time, Chia, Kari, and Alex were forced to find work during the summer so they could support the house, until Jordie and Brenden got steadier jobs. Kari's room was the smallest, so Alex refused to make him share. He invested in the family couch, and made sure his sleeping arrangements were ideal. 

Four years later, and he still sleeps happily on that beat up thing. 

Kari looked down at him, and brought the blanket Alex had kicked to his feet back up to his chest. Although he wouldn't admit it for a long time, Kari always thought Alex's snoring was adorable. It made him laugh when the brunette snorted randomly in his sleep. 

Kari spared one last glance at him, then made his way to his room. When his door was safely closed behind him, he leapt, and flopped onto his bed face first. 

"Merrgh," He mumbled into the comforter, letting himself relax. 

That night, although it still wasn't enough, he got an extra hour of sleep, and was content to think about Alex in his dreams the whole time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, an update! It might be the last one for a while. I'm starting a new job, so updates might/will be infrequent. I still really want to keep up this story, so I think I'll make time for it. 
> 
> Comments and Kudos are appreciated!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kari is subjugated to all kinds of Thanksgiving feels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanksgiving update.

Thanksgiving was definitely interesting. 

Val's host family had to go back to their house and haul back two tubs of stuffing, which absolutely thrilled both Benn brothers, while Val himself brought a Tupperware container full of pelmeni. He refused to let anybody try them until dinner began. 

"If we were going traditional, I would've made something French."

"Yeah, and Kari could've-"

"Shut up," Kari threw a wadded up napkin at Ryan before he elaborated anymore. "That was one time." 

Chia rolled his eyes, small smile tugging at his lips. "It's not his fault you can't cook." 

"Ugh, stop making noise." 

They gathered in the kitchen, where the fridge was already overflowing with food. The turkey was in the oven, making everybody in the immediate vicinity drool a respectable amount. Even though it was hardly eleven, there was a general consensus amongst the families that dinner should be turned into lunch. 

Trevor sidled up to Goose with a chuckle, whispering in his ear something that Kari couldn't catch. His brother looked up, eyes darting around the room, until he stopped on Kari's form leaning against the wall. Kari blushed at being caught, entirely to his chagrin, and looked away as quickly as he could, before shooting a glance back. Goose smirked. 

"Hey guys!" Jamie shouted over the people packed in the room. "Let's take a Thanksgiving selfie!" 

A chorus of groans came from most of the teenagers, but Val's host mother was overjoyed at the thought. She soon had everyone agreeing with the idea (although it seemed like Antoine would drag his feet about it the rest of the day by the way he was groaning). Jamie held his phone up at an angle, and everyone squeezed into the shot as best they could. 

"Here, next to me, Val!" 

"Scooch, Brenden!"

"Ow, Kari, your elbow's digging into my ribs!"

"Better move before I beat you, Eaks."

"Trevor! Don't talk to your friends that way!" 

"A little to the left, Bennie."

"Who, me?"

"I thought I said Bennie, not Beardy." 

After a few moments more of undefined chaos, Jamie was starting to snap at people, and Kevin's dad did not look impressed. 

"Alright people, I'm telling Jamie to snap that picture in five seconds. If by that time you aren't situated, we're still taking that picture, and you'll be the one that looks like an idiot!" 

That got anyone still squirming to settle down and smile, only a little miffed at being shouted at. 

After a few 'click' noises made by Jamie's camera phone, he let everyone go, saying that he would text the pics around to them. Kevin pouted at his father a little, embarrassed, Kari assumed, that his family would do that in front of his crush. 

"This holiday," Val giggled at the sulky boy, totally oblivious at the tension in Kevin's shoulders. "is very fun." Kevin grinned at his Russian, immediately recovered from being upset. 

When the food was finally served around one, the large group was standing around the table in a big circle. Brenden and Jordie bickered about who was to say grace, and Kari was assigned the task by his brothers while they were still arguing. 

"Uh," Kari started. "I just wanted to ask that, uh, that God bless this food, and the many families that came here today to celebrate with us. I'm glad that we have more people to share the Benn madness with." Some laughs. Kari gestured to the now quiet couple. "If these two are nuts, what do you think the rest of us are like? I'm happy that you guys are here, so let's..." 

Kari sniffed the air, and shared a concerned look with Chia. 

"Did somebody leave something in the oven?" 

Smoke wafted lazily through the room, creating a deep set panic in Kari's bones. He was pushes aside by Antoine, who was sprinting to the kitchen, but he followed on his heels. He made it just in time to see the young man ripping open the door to the oven. He dove right in, foregoing mitts, and grabbed the charred pie from it's former spot.

"Ow, shit! Fuck fuck fuck-" He threw the pie in the sink, and held his hands close to his chest. Kari grimaced. 

He took Antoine's hands in his own, gently scrutinizing the bright, red burn that stained his skin. Antoine sucked in breath through grit teeth, whining with tears in his eyes. He tried to pull away from Kari. 

"Kari-" He took in a deeper, shuddering breath. "Je t'emmerde! Christ!" 

"Antoine, calm down." Kari sighed. "Alex! Jordie!" 

The older Benn came running in from his post outside the kitchen, followed by both Goose and Chia. Kari quirked an eyebrow at them. 

Jordie had a minor freak-out, which led to him calling for Brenden, and the rest of the family. And of course, because Goose was in there, Trevs and Eaks had to come, too. And whenever Ryan went anywhere, Colton followed like a lamb. If Colton was a lamb, that made Kevin and Val ducklings, because they couldn't keep out of trouble. 

So, now the hazy kitchen was packed with worried onlookers while Antoine tried his hardest to man up through the pain. He glared weakly at Chia, who was doting on him like nobody's business. Val disappeared a moment, but reappeared again with his host dad. The older man examined Antoine's hands intensely. Without blinking, he told Jordie to start up somebody's car.

"It's a second-degree burn. He'll have to go the hospital. As in, right now." The man pushed Antoine through the many bodies creating traffic in the house smoothly, and made him raise his hands to his collarbone, palms up. "Where do you keep the first-aid?" Brendan followed him to the bathroom. 

The room was still smoking in time with the loud beeping of the fire alarm. Everyone was standing around, dumbstruck by shock, and then Jamie took off his jacket, waving the article of clothing around to clear up the air. Goose did the same, but with his arms instead, and apparently Val thought the idea was grand. He nudged Kevin, twisting his tall body at the torso with arms outstretched, looking like a bird. Kev grinned. 

"Open a window, somebody!" Eaks complained, pushing Ryan towards the back door. "Seriously, you all just look stupid." 

The alarm finally died down, and Kari was back to worrying about Antoine. 

"I saw him and Val's host guy leaving with Jordie a while ago," Trevor piped up in somebody else's conversation, throwing his thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the driveway. "Poor Antoine, looked like he was gonna cry." 

Kari frowned. 

"Well, we can't just sit here and eat!" Goose took a defiant stance in front of the kitchen doorway. "Not with part of the family missing!" 

"What do you suggest we do?" Jamie grouched from the table, jacket now sprawled against the wood, all soot covered and smokey. 

"Why don't we take the food to him? We could surprise him in the waiting room." Colton's mother smiled, making herself known. There was a pause. 

"Let's do it!" Kevin cheered, leaping towards the counters covered in food containers. 

"I'll cut the turkey," Jamie called dibs. "Dad showed me how in sixth grade." Kevin's father pat him on the back, not unfriendly. 

"I'll help, kid. No need for anymore emergency room visits today." 

So that's how they ended up riding in their respective vehicles with all of the Thanksgiving meal packed up and in their laps for a drive to the hospital. Kari was at the wheel, tightlipped, and trying to balance two tins of mashed potatoes while simultaneously trying to calm down Chia. The younger boy was seriously going into overdrive, thinking up the worst case scenarios (and telling everyone in the car about it). 

"What if he loses his hands?"

Kari heaved a sigh.

"It's only second-degree, Alex. I think he'll be alright."

"That's just a word! What if he can never feed himself again? What if I'm stuck taking care of him?"

"I'm sure you wouldn't really mind..." 

"What did you say!?" 

This banter went on till they arrived in the surprisingly packed hospital parking lot. Goose kicked the passenger door open, ignored Kari's glare, and beckoned for Jamie and Ryan to hurry up. 

"Alright boys, we got a lot of people and a lot of food to get in there, so let's hop to it!" Goose gestured wildly at the huge building in the background. "Come on, before the food gets cold!" 

Colton's family was next to catch up with them, on account of their following behind Kari's Ford. His mother walked with all of the plates and utensils in her arms, refusing Ryan's help, and even her own son's. "I'm a big girl," she smirked, marching through the lot with the resilience you can only find in a mother. 

Ryan and Colton glanced at each other and laughed. 

When everyone was gathered near the front of the building, the families walked right in. The waiting room was filled with children, elderly people, and other families, sitting and making quiet chatter with their neighbors. Val's host dad saw them and waved. 

"Uh," Jamie whispered to Kari. "Are we even allowed to do this?" 

"Who cares?" Kari chuckled. "It's Thanksgiving. These people kind of look like they need something to be thankful for." He took the plates from Mrs. Sceviour and held them up, yelling, "Whoever is hungry we've got Thanksgiving dinner right here!" 

And even though it was not their initial plan, the big group ended up feeding the waiting room at Kari's request. The food was set up on side tables and open seats, even along parts of the front desk. The nurses and secretaries were astonished, but didn't do much to stop them. They pretty much gave up after a short conference with Val and Colton's mothers. 

It was another hour or so before Jordie and Brenden showed up from accompanying their brother to the ER, and taking a worried walk around the building. They looked at the display with wide eyes, before their other brothers converged upon them with hugs and questions. 

"He'll be okay," Brenden smiled at them, though it was dim. "But he's gonna be bandaged up for a while." 

Kari bumped shoulders with Chia fondly.

"I told you he'll be alright." The blonde threw his arm over Chia's shoulders, and smiled when the young man pushed him halfheartedly. "Now go eat. There's still a lot of food left." 

So they did. The air was light, the talk was happy, and stomachs were stuffed. Val let everyone who wanted to try his pelmeni (which ended up in Kevin falling all over himself to tell Val how great it was). Goose was stacking a plate high with turkey and ham for Antoine, saying, "The guy is a bottomless pit on a regular basis, you know how he gets on Thanksgiving!" And nothing could be closer to the truth. 

"Mr. Benn, you're needed in Mr. Roussel's room." A nurse called on Jordie, clipboard in hand, and a cheerful smile on her face. "We'll need you to sign some things before he can be discharged." 

"Okay," Jordie scrubbed a hand through his beard. "God, this kid. What time is it?" 

"About..." Jamie checked his phone. "Jeeze, 4:56."

Jordie grimaced, but otherwise was quiet. He followed the nurse out of the room. Brenden yawned.

"I have a feeling we're gonna sleep well tonight." Trevor said, rubbing his belly contentedly. "Ugh, I could fall asleep here..."

"Well DON'T!" Goose tackled him, spurring a short-lived wrestling match that had Goose in a headlock, and Trevor on top of him. Kari grumbled to himself, and turned away from the scene in time to see Jordie walking back with Antoine. Kari was the first to vault out of his vinyl seat, cautiously latching on to his baby brother's side. Big palms came to rest gently on Antoine's shoulders.

"Are you okay?" He whispered, demanding the other's attention. "Antoine, are you okay?" 

"Y-yeah," He stuttered. "I...Why are you so close?" 

"Gah! " Kari cuffed Antoine over the head. "How can you talk when you practically begged to share my bed with me?" Antoine pouted, and lifted his bandaged hands into view. 

"Don't pick on me, I'm injured!" 

"Yeah, well maybe you deserved it!" Kari huffed, eyebrows knit. 

"What!?" Antoine yelled. "For saving our house from burning down!?" 

"Hush! We're still in a hospital. Go eat." 

Antoune grudgingly took the plate Goose offered him, and frowned.

"Uh, excuse me? How am I supposed to-AH! BACK OFF, CONNARD!" Chia stuck the fork back in Antoine's face, making plane noises. 

"Open up, little boy!" He cooed. Kari grinned at the rest of the waiting room, and they grinned back. Their squabbling even tore some laughter out of the more solemn looking patients. 

When things quieted down a little more, Jamie grabbed everyone's attention again. 

"Let's take a hospital selfie!" 

The same stressful process from before happened, with people yelling, getting yelled at, etc. But the resulting picture turned out great. Everybody in the waiting room was in it (there was one little girl that was making fun of her grim faced grandfather, which was Kari's favorite part). Jamie asked for some with himself and Antoine, making his newly heroic brother raise up his hands to do so. There were pictures taking of the food, the hospital, another group one outside in the parking lot. It was a mess.

Later, when everyone was back in their own homes and beds, Kari was sitting downstairs on the couch with Ryan and Goose. Ryan had his phone out, stalking his Twitter. 

"Looks like Jamie's pictures were a hit." Ryan chuckled, turning off his phone. He stood up, and stretched. "I'm going to bed. Night."

"Night." "Goodnight." 

The two left sat in silence for a long while, letting the creaking sounds of the house settling fill their ears. The couch was soft under Kari, fitting his form well enough. It was the dent where he always sat, that's probably why it was comfortable. The piece of furniture was old and broken in. 

"So," Goose gave him a sideways look, goofy smile tugging at his lips. "If people are picking on you, I'll kick their ass."

Kari turned to look at him quickly. What the hell?

"What the hell?"

Goose's smile started to show all of his teeth. "Just in case you didn't know." 

Kari smiled a little at this. Nevermind that he was the older one, nevermind he was the bigger one. Alex's bold statement made him itch to give the brunette a bear hug. Kari reached over and pushed Alex away by the face instead, stammering a "whatever, go to bed" before hightailing it to his own room. 

He closed the door quietly. The clock read 12:33PM. 

With a groan, Kari plopped down into his desk chair and booted up his computer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, oh jeeze. I deserve a big ol' bag of dicks right now, don't I? Wanted to update, partly out of thanks to those who read, and the guilt was killing me. 
> 
> For those who don't go looking up words they don't know immediately after reading them, Pelmeni is a simple Russian dumpling dish. 
> 
> Je t'emmerde: translates roughly to fuck you
> 
> All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Comments & Kudos appreciated! 
> 
> (I love you guys so much, and I understand if you hate me!)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kari experiences Christmas cheer firsthand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!

Another month or so back at school after the whole Thanksgiving fiasco, and then Christmas break was finally upon them. Kari was shopping at the downtown mall, trying to keep his face hidden in case he saw anyone he knew. This time of year is always the most quiet of his, and sadly, his brothers know this is because he tries to buy their gifts in secret. Kari frowned, remembering the fight he had with Ryan that morning. 

/"Really, if you just let me go with you-"

"No, I'm going on my own."

Ryan pouted at him from across the room, digging into his pocket to grab his wallet. 

"I'll pay, just like a taxi."

Kari scowled, having to suffer through his brother's whining since before breakfast. 

"Then just pay for a real taxi." Kari grumped, starting to leave the room. Ryan gaped at Kari. 

"Are you serious?" He half-shouted. "I can't afford that!"

Kari rolled his eyes,"Then you can't afford me!" He didn't stop to listen to anymore complaining, buttoned his coat, and shut the front door rather roughly./

He sighed, and disappeared into another clothes store, almost certain that none of his brothers would dare to step foot inside it. They weren't the most fashion savvy people (and to be fair, neither was Kari). No, he didn't expect to find somebody he knew, and so he went on his merry little way, perusing the new tee shirts, and some of the nicer, dressier ones. Just as he was gathering the last of his gifts, there came a loud voice yelling from the opening of the store. 

"Yo, Seggy! You almost on break?" This short boy with a nose too big for his face stomped towards the counter. The teenager working the register glared playfully. 

"No, Brad. There's still one customer left." The guy, 'Seggy' apparently, shot a quick look in Kari's direction. Kari rolled his eyes. When he placed his things on the counter, he looked at 'Seggy's' nametag, an eye-popping, construction hat yellow with black block letters. They spelled out 'TYLER'. 

Tyler scanned quickly. "Will that be all for you?" Kari nodded. "Do you want it gift wrapped?" 

"Uh," Kari stumbled. How do you gift wrap clothes, he wondered. There weren't any boxes in or around the glass counter, where watches and other jewelry were on display. He swiped his card, taking the bag from Tyler's outstretched hand with a small, polite smile. "No thanks." 

He left quickly, trying to place the familiar name and face. He took the questions with him to the food court, along with bags that swarmed his arms. Plopping down into a seat with his lunch, he kept trying to figure out who this Tyler was. Taking a frustrated bite of his salad, and now wishing he'd gotten something more filling, Kari pushed it out of his mind. 

The ride home was short and unmemorable, besides the fact that the old car's heater was going out. He parked in the street, gathering his bags, and locked the car. He knew if he left his things in there, his brothers would try to take them. "Really, they are all spoiled brats," he grumbled. 

Kari puffed out a breath, seeing it form a little cloud in the air. They hadn't had any snow yet, but it was coming. He knew. It was usually around the time of a bad storm that he started to ache in the shoulders or hip, and he was waiting for it. 

He sneaked as well as he could into the house, stealing his way up the stairs to his room. His door closed quietly behind him, and he sagged against it with a sigh. The weight of the day really settled against him, so after he stowed the gifts in his closet, he decided to wrap himself in his comforter and fight the cold landscape outside. 

With a tired...noise...Kari let himself fall forward onto the bed, straight into someone's warm sleeping body 

"What the-!" "GET OFF KARI."

Goose attempted to push Kari away (and off the bed), but was too fatigued from his nap to actually do something. Kari scrambled to the edge, feet positioned to launch an attack if he had to. Goose shot him a look, and pulled the blankets back around him. 

"What are you doing in my bed?" Kari eyed him warily, tugging the blue fabric away from Goose's face. 

"I wanted to take a nap," The brunette grudgingly supplied. "And they wanted family time." He gestured towards the door.

Kari stared at him. 

"In case you forgot, the couch is my bed."

"I didn't forget." 

They sat awkwardly for a few moments. Goose, already half-asleep, kept snapping his head back up. Kari smirked. 

"Go to bed," He chuckled, making to stand up, before a hand pulled him back down. "What?"

Goose yawned. "You look pretty wiped, too." 

Kari pursed his lips, pretending to think about it for a second. "Fine," He acquiesced. "Scoot over."

The big Finn slumped into the mattress, using his considerable girth to force Goose up against the wall. In retaliation, Goose's elbow came to stick painfully in Kari's abdomen until he moved. Kari readjusted onto his side with a grunt. 

"God, you need a softer bed."

"Yeah..."

The words sat poorly in Kari's stomach, so he closed his eyes and feigned sleep. After he slowed his breathing, Goose followed, light snoring cutting lazily through the silence. After twenty or some odd minutes, Kari fell into a fitful sleep, one where he phased in and out of consciousness until he finally (reluctantly) relaxed against Goose.

"Hey!" "Guys, wake up!"

Kari blinked wearily into being awake, immediately becoming aware of the pinching ache between his neck and shoulder. 

"Dinner time, come on." "I've never seen either of them almost miss out on food." 

Goose started to stir beside him.

"Kari," Jamie rustled him gently. "You okay?" 

Goose sat up suddenly, nearly knocking heads with Ryan. "Wha...?" He looked around, bringing his hands up to rub his face. "What's up?" Kari gave him a look, desperately wanting to be left alone at the moment. 

"Wake up. Food." Chia gave a small smile from where he was leaning against the doorframe. Antoine stood next to him, looking almost dwarfed in comparison to the other, even if it was only a few inches difference. Kari groaned loudly. 

"Ugh," He turned over onto his stomach, muffling the noise with the mattress. "...don't wanna..." A weight pushed against his side, sending him rolling off the bed with an angry shout. He glared at the world. 

"I'm going, I'm going." 

The walk downstairs made him feel dizzy, and exasperated his achey muscles. That bed was definitely not made for two. Ryan pushed him a little to get him to move faster, and the blonde almost snapped at the other. It was a well known fact that Kari wasn't a pleasant person when he woke up from a nap, and usually the family didn't have to deal with it, but that was not the current situation. 

Dinner was an ordeal. 

(At least, for Kari it was.)

They were having meatloaf, which wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but that's where things got out of hand. Brenden forced a smile at the whole group, and Kari wanted to hide in the hall closet. 

"Alright, uh...so. You guys are getting older, huh?" Brenden grinned awkwardly, looking no one in the eye. "Well...yep. That's a thing that's happening..." 

Jordie sighed, giving the other man a pointed look as he took the lead in conversation. "Kari, you and Goose are graduating this year, and moving out, I guess?" He carded a hand through his beard, tugging on the ends of it. "And, there won't be much point in keeping a house this size anymore. It's been, shit, a few years since we moved from the other house, and. Well, we finally have enough saved up to buy another place that big." 

The table was silent. 

Kari closed his eyes, trying to give his mind a rest from the moment. He didn't know if it was the idea of going to college, or the nostalgia that came with thinking about their childhood home, but he wasn't sure he could keep the stutter out of his voice even if he tried.

"W-wow. That's great." He opened his eyes. "But why move now? Wouldn't it make more sense just to keep this house?"

Jordie shifted in his seat. "Well, I mean, there will still be room sharing for some of you guys, but...after you and Goose move out, we can have more space, even a guest room." 

Kari bit his lip. He didn't like that answer much, but he dropped it. He was comfortable where he was, and (to be honest) college was an entirely different upset altogether. He poked at his food. It seemed like the world was out to get him.

Chia and Antoine stared at him. He stared back. They quickly looked away, sharing a few quiet words, and didn't look in Kari's general direction for the rest of the night. 

When the time came for the rest of the house to settle, Kari found himself logging on to his computer with a pitiful hunch in his shoulders. He didn't realize how close he was to graduating. He'd been receiving all types of college ads in the mail, and he'd gone campus touring once or twice, but...

He sighed.

The unobtrusive shine of Christmas lights outside his window cast a certain calmness over his bedroom. They twinkled mildly, a plain yellow that was enough to illuminate anywhere they touched without being annoying. Brenden put them up a week or so ago, and Kari never really had to use his actual bedroom light much, unless somebody (Ryan) accidentally unplugged them from their socket on the side of the house.

Without doing anything on it, he turned off his computer. He padded over to his closet, pulled out the stash of gifts he hid at the very top, where they were hidden behind old clothes and some stuffed animals he couldn't bear to part with. Without much thought behind the motions, he wrapped each box, and folded the clothes to put in boxes for each brother respectively. Then he wrapped those. He stuck tags and bows on them, then placed them back at the top. He would put them under the tree on Christmas Eve, which was only in one day, then watch all night to make sure nobody tried to snoop. Jamie was always the worst offender.

Kari looked up at the stuffed animals and smiled. He tugged one down, and stared at it. 

It was a beanie baby bear, faded green, and dingy with grit that Kari had never let anybody wash off. He turned it over in his hands a moment, gently inspecting it's limbs for any sign of coming apart or fraying. He smiled softly, remembering how damn protective he used to be of it. 

/"Hey, can I see?" The boy reached over to him, trying to grab at his bear. Kari tried to back away from him.

"Stop," he said. The boy didn't listen, and instead did the exact opposite. He got one small, sticky hand on an ear and began to tug. Kari pulled back. "STOP!" 

"I wanna see it!" The boy yelled at him, grunting while he tried taking the toy. Kari kept screaming at him. "Talk normal! I don't know what you're saying!"/

"Alex was such a little shit," Kari murmured fondly. He squeezed lightly, feeling the bear's insides contort to the shape of his palm. "Trying to take my bear and everything." He reflected on the days events quietly for a little bit, playing with the bear's arms and legs. He groaned. "I'm such a drama queen." 

Kari fell backwards onto his ruffled sheets and blankets, relaxing ever so slightly into their used feeling. He was tired, but he couldn't even close his eyes for more than a few seconds without feeling like he had to get up and do something. Kari stood, and reached down to pull a book from his backpack. The dim lighting made it a bit hard to read, but he knew he was okay to finish the book in peace. 

The next few days passed in a blur. They spent the time catching up with the lives around them, called up a few of their older friends to chat some. Kari had to drive all those without a car to whatever store, and drop them off off so they could finish their holiday shopping. (Although it seemed that he was more often than not dropping Chia and Antoine off so they could spend time together). 

Christmas Eve had them hanging around the living room or kitchen all at once, talking about whatever. Brenden finally found use of their chimney once again, tasking Antoine and Ryan to go haul in their firewood from the back porch. Jordie and Jamie manned the oven, stove, and microwave all day, making sure to keep bellies full until it was time to hit the hay. 

Kari gave them all an hour tops before they passed out. 

He escaped to his room for a little bit, until he knew everyone would be out like a light. Taking the presents down, Kari placed them next to the ones already under the tree, and waited.

Alex was sprawled on the couch, and resembled a dead body more than a sleeping teenager. He wuffled lightly, then turned over into the cushions. If Kari was the least bit worried that his brother would smother himself by accident, he didn't show it. Instead, he took up a seat on the floor to make sure no younger Benns tried to open their presents early. 

The night passed slowly, and more than once, he felt a short-lived twinge in his side. 

"White Christmas, huh?" He whispered to himself, throwing an arm over his face with a huff. "I just wish that-"

"Hm?" 

Alex crawled over the couch, across the floor, and landed next to Kari. He smiled up at the startled blonde.

"Why you still up?" Alex asked behind a yawn. 

"Can't sleep." 

"Right." Alex smiled. "Well, can I give you my present now, then?" 

Kari stared at him. "O-okay." 

Alex gave him an intense look, and sat a little straighter. Kari was pretty sure his face was the color of a tomato, because it was as if his skin was on fire, and it didn't help that Alex kept getting closer to him. 

"Hey," Alex grinned. "You gotta move over, man. It's right behind you." He reached across Kari and grabbed a small, wrapped box with a cute, little bow on it. Kari could have died. 

"Here," Alex put it in his hand. Kari just looked at it in his big palm, until the other boy nudged him. "Open it." 

The wrapping fell beneath his unsteady fingers, as did the lid of the black box, until a silver chain gleaned in the light of the fire still burning from earlier. He lifted it up, examining the pendant at the end. It was a sea horse. 

"Hm?" Kari eyed his brother in confusion. "Why a sea horse?" 

Alex turned away, flustered. "It looked cool, so, you know. I thought you'd like it." 

Kari smiled. 

"I do. Thank you."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm going back to bed." Alex climbed back onto the couch, twirling the blankets around him once again. He threw a "Merry Christmas, I guess" over his shoulder. In a few minutes, he was asleep. 

Kari spent a long silence staring at his back, then he looked down at the necklace in his hands. He slipped it on. The pendant beat softly against his chest a moment before going still. 

He liked the sea horse.

A sudden chill ran up Kari's spine, contrasting sharply with the ache in his hip, and he rushed to the window. Light snow fall had just begun, dusting the nearby landscape with glittering white. Kari hummed in appreciation. An almost hysterical sort of glee set in, and he suddenly couldn't wait for his brothers to wake up. 

Almost as an afterthought, he mumbled to himself, "Merry Christmas."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes and any bad puns that might have made it in there are all mine. 
> 
> Comments & Kudos are appreciated!
> 
> *Merry Christmas, guys*


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They jumped out a window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a less Kari-centric chapter, more about foreshadowing and tying up loose ends. Bear with me, here. 
> 
> It's currently quite cold in DFW, Texas. Puts me in a hockey mood.
> 
> All mistakes are mine, so don't be afraid to point em out. I'll be doing some editing by the time this monstrosity is finished.

"Hey, stop!" 

Val's legs worked harder as he ran, Kevin's stockier form having trouble keeping up beside him. There were three or four guys chasing them around the school hallways, and they all looked to be the maiming type. Val ran faster. 

"Get back here!" "You fucker, man up!"

He could see Colton up ahead, walking out of a classroom with his keys in his hand. Kevin huffed in relief, scrambling after their friend. 

"C-Colt-" "Help!" 

He looked up at them, usual cool demeanor falling apart fast when he saw the entourage of boys trailing them. Colton waited for Val and Kevin to catch up , and grabbed their wrists tightly, wrenching them into the classroom. He pulled the door close, eyeing them like they were insane. 

"What was that?" 

"Ha," Kevin grinned, cheeks flush. "Val mighta' said somethin' mildly offensive." Val toed the tile with a sheepish look. 

"Accident..." 

Kevin pat his bicep consolingly. "I know big guy."

The boys outside started yelling and pounding on the door, glaring through the small, Plexiglas window. Colton gaped.

"Is that Jonny Toews?" He gave them an exasperated look. "What did you even say to piss him off?!" The door handle jiggled, threatening to give. 

"Shit," Kevin breathed, eyes searching the room for defense if need be. 

"The window!" Val pointed. "We can leave."

*  
"Wait, wait," Antoine hiked a brow skeptically, crossing his arms. "You're telling me you jumped out a window?"

"Yeah that does seem a little fishy," Jamie piped up from his spot on the couch. Eaks and Trevor were beside him, quietly withholding all of their comments like the mature fucking adults they were. They shared a looked that said as much. "I thought Ms. Alden's class was on the second floor?" 

Kevin smirked. "That's where the story gets interesting."

"I thought it was already interesting." Ryan said, winking at Colton. 

"Ugh, lame," Brenden filtered through the living room, grabbing his laptop. "What happened that's so interesting?"  
*  
"We can't just jump out of a fucking-" Colton choked on the words, gesturing wildly at the window. "Seriously?" 

Kevin tried the latch in spite of his friend's flailing, finding it unlocked. He slid it up, popping the screen out with a victory fist pump. "Let's go!" 

A boy outside slammed into the door.

"Come on!" 

Colton shook his head, defiantly standing his ground. 

"If you don't jump out of this window, I'm gonna have to be the one that explains to Ryan why we don't have a ride home!"

Colton rolled his eyes. "Fine."

The trio lined up at the window's ledge, looking down at the asphalt of the parking lot. Kevin coughed into his fist, shrinking back into the classroom.

"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet?" Colton frowned.

"Kev?" Val looked back questioningly. Kevin forced a smile at them, backing up a considerable amount more. 

"D-don't worry guys, we can still get out of this, just not so..." He waved his hand in the air flippantly. "Dangerously?"

*  
"So you wussed out?" Jordie chuckled.

"No!" Kevin shouted.

"Yes," Colton mumbled from beside him, rolling his eyes.

"Shh, keep tell story!" 

"Val, weren't you there?" 

"Shh!" 

*  
The door opened violently, displaying the thoroughly red face of Jonny Toews, who was obviously ready to rip somebody's head off. Kevin yelped, practically throwing himself at Val, who was clearly the stronger of them all-

*  
"If you are going to tell the story, tell it right!" 

Val pouted.

*  
Jonny Toews stormed in, opening his mouth to say something when-

"You asswipe, I'm gonna make you wish you never even came to this school!" 

Patrick Kane. Short, blonde menace hell-bent on making those he disliked realize their foolish mistake. He intimidated his enemies with the help of his much more intimidating boy toy Jonathan Toews, and beat them up with a posse of mindless thugs.

*  
"But I know Jonny," Jamie mumbled, eyes narrowed with skepticism. "He wouldn't let Patrick do that." 

Kevin 'hmph'ed, pointedly turning away. "Yeah, but Patrick is a douche, so I win." 

*  
Colton grabbed Kevin, looking one moment away from fainting, and ran to the ledge. He looked down, then back to Val. Colton's hazel eyes held something crazed, and he dragged Kevin out with him in an impromptu jump, leaving those still in the classroom picking up their jaws. 

Val, in hysterics ran to the window flanked by Jonny and Patrick. Colton and Kevin were...gone? There weren't any sign of his two friends, save for Colton's beanie, hanging off the corner of a brick. It was within arms reach, and Val plucked it back inside, examining it with bewilderment. 

*  
"We're home!" Goose announced as he and Alex came in through the front door. 

"Wow, you guys are quiet." Chia pointed out, dropping his school bag on the ground. Goose shrugged out of his work shirt, and tossed Jordie's keys to him, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, who died?"

"Colts, Val, and Kevin jumped out a window." Trevor smirked, waggling his eyebrows. Goose chuckled. "They were just regaling us with their tale of daring heroics." 

"Anyway," Val glared, certainly demanding attention. "As I say..."

*  
Val staggered out of the room, taking off in a full-blown sprint down the hallway. They were pulling that ' hanging off the ledge' crap from those action movies Antoine watched. He'd seen Kevin's stupid knockoff watch barely glinting in the late afternoon sun, and after he had taken the beanie, one of Colton's brown curls was still stuck to a thread. 

His sneakers scorched asphalt as he threw himself through the parking lot, deflating in relief at the sight of Colton helping Kevin down to the ground. He raced up beside them.

"We go now?" 

"Yeah," Colton breathed. "Just gotta pick Ryan up from his science partner's house in an hour." 

*  
"That explains why you guys were so...gross." Ryan smiled. "No offense, but you need a shower, hon."

Colton blushed. 

"Well, that was a nice story." Trevor stood from the couch, making a show of his stretching. "What's for dinner?"

Jordie sighed dramatically. "Well, if you're going to mooch off of us, then you're going to cook." Trevor groaned, to the loud amusement of Goose and Brenden. They got a nice, perky, middle finger for their laughter.

Things settled after that. The boys broke up into their normal groups, chatting quietly, at least, as quietly as twelve guys in one general vicinity could actually be. Once or twice there was a short argument ended with a sharp cuff to the head, or incited by one. There was yelling, complaining, some wrestling. The usual stuff. Dinner was had in the living room, an exquisite meal of Walmart steaks, courtesy of Jordie, and Kraft mac n' cheese, courtesy of Trevor. The talk was light, and the air was happy. 

The doorbell rang. 

Jordie and Brenden both rose, walking to the door together, opening it to meet the faces of two county police officers. Their figures were illuminated by flashing red and blue lights, making them appear more imposing than they actually were. Val's billet parents were standing in the driveway by their car, looking washed out and tired. 

"Uhm. How can I help you, officers?" Jordie squeaked, voice raising an uncomfortable octave.

"Are the three boys who started a fight at the high school and climbed out of a second story window here right now?" 

 

Brenden and Jordie shared a look. 

"...yes." 

Colton and Kevin phoned their parents, and Sean had to drive down to the Benn household from his night classes. Colton's parents would be at the station waiting for them. 

"Ah," Colton rubbed his face. "It was fun while it lasted." 

The three boys shuffled into the squad car, pressing into each other's sides like their newfound camaraderie was the only thing that would keep them safe. Trevor ran past with his car keys jangling, followed by Goose and Ryan. Eaks looked at Jordie questioningly, eyes big and unsure. 

"No. We're not getting involved," Jordie puffed his chest out, daring anybody to challenge him. "This isn't our problem." 

There was a pregnant pause. 

Antoine and Jamie and Chia walked out of the house. Brenden pat Jordie's arm consolingly, but motioned for Eaks to follow him.

They all got into Brenden's beat up van, even a pouty Jordie who wasn't very happy with being ignored. Their rat pack followed a squad car holding three small looking boys, the billet family's tiny Hyundai, and Trevor's inherited bumper car. Sean pulled up beside them on his motorcycle, mouth set into a grim line. 

The police station was a small brick building whose parking lot was overflowing with cars and people. Concerned parents crowded the doors, building up a loud, confused chatter. Mrs. Sceviour was leaning against her car, glaring at everything, while her husband awkwardly avoided stepping on her toes. Jamie pointed out all of the assistant principles, plus Jonny Toews' truck, and Sheriff Esposito.

The three boys shuffled out of the squad car, and took the walk of shame.

"Boys," The sheriff, a broadly built man in his fifties with salt and pepper hair, bellowed at them. "I can forgive a verbal fight. I can forgive that because you are old enough to work that out on your own." He eyed them all with a frown. "What I can't forgive is Principal Howe calling me at home to tell me there was a break in at the school!"

Kevin coughed, and received a dirty look from the sheriff. Jonny Toews and Patrick Kane sat on the other side of Colton, looking at everything that didn't happen to be Esposito. Their friend, the guy Val recognized as one of his assailants, was squeezed between Kane and the wall uncomfortably, but it was clear that he wouldn't want to be anywhere other than there, nestled up against his friend. Val slid down into his seat, miserable and tired. 

"Mr. Sharp, Mr. Kane, I thought you two had already learnt your lesson from before. And Mr. Toews, this isn't a pleasant surprise." Esposito paced the room, arms crossed. "You three," He pointed at Colton, Kevin, and Val accusingly. "I've never seen your faces around here. I don't expect to see you in my office again, got it?" Everybody nodded quickly.

"Principal Howe has 'suggested' that all of you spend the next six weeks period after school helping the custodians clean the halls." The sheriff smiled devilishly, shuffling through some papers on his desk until he pulled one out of the pile. "You also have to participate in a few community outreach programs. You know, going go read to senior citizens, visit hospitals to play with the kids, go feed some shelters. I think you boys get the picture." 

He motioned them to stand. They left the room with their heads held low, knowing exactly how much time they would be spending together. Val looked a few seconds away from crying, while that Sharp guy was pressed closer to Jonny and Patrick's sides. 

Colton's parents took him home, same with Val's billet family. Kevin complained about his backpack, saying it was still in the Benn's living room, but Jordie said they would just get it to him tomorrow. Sean gave them a quiet thank you, and dragged Kevin onto the back of his bike with a few words about all the chores he'd have to do. 

So, the next few days were sadly almost quiet in the house without two loud freshman and a sophomore that made Ryan giggle all the time. When Goose came home later than before each day, striped paper hat crumpled dismally in his hand every time he and Jordie walked through the door, things almost picked up, but not much.

It was late on a Friday evening when the front door opened to reveal a tired looking Kari. He sat his bags down, and paused, listening for the boisterous clamoring of his family in the kitchen, or the living room. Nothing. All the cars were up front, save for Colton's. He rubbed at his eyes, feeling like the hazy weight of four sleepless nights at two different colleges was really affecting him now. 

He hadn't been able to talk to anybody at home, and he was really itching for some hug time. Particularly with Alex. Goose. Whatever. Point was, he couldn't wait to see how the boys coped without him.

Kari trudged to the kitchen, devoid of any life besides Antoine. He was lazily trailing swirls over the worn wood of the kitchen table, mouth drawn into a tight frown. Kari gently cleared his throat. 

"Hey bud, where is everyone?" 

Antoine's head shot up, suddenly beaming. His lips pulled into a grin, and he was up in hardly a second, giving Kari a crushing bear hug. 

"You're back!" 

"Yeah," Kari huffed out, patting his brother on the back. "I'm back. What's up? Why's it so quiet?" 

Antoine released him.

"HEY GUYS! GUESS WHO'S HOME!" 

There was an almighty tremor, and then many hormone-crazed boys were dog piling him to the ground. Kari tried to greet them all, but each one of them had something to say. Eventually, he let himself relax on into the warm cadence of his family. 

"Colton is grounded," Ryan mumbled against his shoulder, sounding like a kicked puppy.

"Val and Kevin, too." Trevor sighed. Kari's stomach twisted a little at the news. He sat up, pushing all of them off, and rubbed the soreness of his ribs away. Somebody's elbow landed there, and he made the guess that it was probably Jamie, who held his arm gingerly. 

"Are you hungry?" Goose questioned, hand curling around Kari's shoulder. "I've got plenty of leftovers from work." 

So that's how he ended up eating a reheated burger while listening to everyone bombard him with all the things he missed, including the Adventures of the Three Amigos, as Brenden put it. 

"Wait, wait," Kari interrupted, swallowing the bit of burger in his mouth. He gave them all an incredulous look. "You're telling me they jumped out a window?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated!  
> p.s.  
> I aged Phil Esposito down a decade (or two).


End file.
